HUNTER’S MATE Bernadette Gardner

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Hunter’s Mate

By

Bernadette Gardner

HUNTER’S MATE Bernadette Gardner

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© copyright by Bernadette Gardner, July 2007
Cover Art by Eliza Black, © copyright July 2007
New Concepts Publishing
Lake Park, GA 31636
www.newconceptspublishing.com

This is a work of fiction. All characters, events, and places are of the author’s

imagination and not to be confused with fact. Any resemblance to living persons or events is
merely coincidence.

HUNTER’S MATE Bernadette Gardner

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Chapter One

“The hybrid female can be found in this area, here....” Captain Sirris pointed to a dense,

woodland area on the holographic map that hung suspended above the central navigation console
on the bridge of the Katavarri.

On the opposite side of the glowing map, Kash-Koori focused his gaze on the spot and

mustered a glimmer of false enthusiasm.

With a flourish of his foreclaw, Sirris continued. “The population in this sector is much

lower than the surrounding areas. Our chances of finding the female alone are excellent.”

“And if she’s not alone?” Kash gauged his question carefully, forcing himself to sound

casual and curious rather than argumentative. Sirris’s plan was foolhardy and ill-conceived, but
Kash had no choice at this time but to go along with it.

The captain’s sapphire blue eyes flashed in irritation, just as Kash had expected. Sirris

disliked being questioned. “Minor casualties are expected. Any human males in the vicinity will
be rendered inert, by any means necessary. Other females, however, should be captured for
future study if possible, though it’s not mandatory at this time. Once we’ve studied the hybrid
female’s genome, we can determine if future cross-breeding will be worth pursuing.” Vague
disappointment colored Sirris’s sibilant voice. “There are still unknown factors, but I have every
confidence in our mission. Don’t look so pensive, Kash. Your future mate will be on board and
at your disposal within hours.”

Kash let out a breath to calm his inner turmoil which was intensified by Sirris’s unctuous

tone. It took every ounce of his considerable will not to tell the captain just what he thought of
this abhorrent mission. “I’m going to check the holding cell again, Captain. I believe our plan
will have much greater success if we do all we can to keep our guest comfortable.”

“Of course, Kash. I admire your attention to detail.” Sirris saluted, raising one clawed

hand to his chest to cover the brilliant blue jewel that adorned the center of the leather harness he
wore.

Kash returned the gesture, touching his own amber jewel, then turned to leave the bridge.

With his back to Sirris now, he allowed his features to curve into a ferocious grimace. Soon he
would not have to answer to Sirris, and his true mission would begin.

* * * *

“I’m fine, really. You don’t have to cut your trip short, Dad.” Victoria Cambridge

balanced the telephone receiver under her left ear while she rummaged in the back of the freezer.
Behind the ice cream and frozen waffles she found her objective, a thick, porterhouse steak. She
set the meat on the kitchen counter to thaw and dusted ice crystals off her hands while her father,
Adam, counseled her long distance from Australia.

“Be sure to call Chief Walters and tell him you’re there so he’ll send a patrol car around

now and then. And prime the generator every forty-eight hours just in case there’s a power
outage.” Her father’s unusual accent crackled through the line for a moment, then the connection
cleared and his voice came through as clearly as if he were standing right next to Victoria. “Just
say the word and we’ll be on the next plane home.”

“Dad. Honestly, you don’t have to worry about me. I’m twenty-six years old. I’m

perfectly capable of rattling around the farmhouse by myself for a few weeks.”

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Victoria was not only capable, but anxious to be alone for a while. The solitude of rural

Pennsylvania would do her a world of good after what she’d come to consider her final,
miserable winter in New York City.

A disappointing foray into the refrigerator turned up no fresh vegetables or much of

anything to go with her dinner. She hadn’t expected much since her parents had left for their
long-anticipated trip Down Under a few days ago. Victoria’s mother, Alliana, would have
cleaned all the perishable food out of the house in preparation. She would have to settle for
canned green beans from the pantry and instant rice as side dishes for her first home cooked meal
in a month. She bustled around, collecting ingredients while her father relayed their itinerary,
moment by moment.

Victoria raised her eyes ceilingward and said a quiet ‘thank you’ when he finished the

exhaustive list of activities and flight schedules he and Alliana had planned. “I’m putting your
mother on,” Adam said, his lecture voice softening. “Remember, if you need us, just call.”

“I will. Hi, Mom.”

A thread of worry laced Alliana’s normally cheerful voice when she greeted her daughter.

“It’s not like you to come home and lick your wounds, sweetheart. I’m worried about you.”

Victoria rolled her eyes. “I’m not licking my wounds, Mom.” She set a kettle on the stove

and plucked a tea bag from the ceramic canister on the counter. “I’m just taking some time to
regroup before I start my new job.” A job I don’t have yet, Victoria mentally added with a rueful
sigh.

Ah well. When one door closes ... her mother was fond of that adage, among others.

Every ending is a beginning. Never say never and all that.

“You’ll stay until we get home, won’t you? I want to have a chance to visit with you

before you jet off again.”

Victoria hunched her shoulders and dangled the tea bag in an empty mug from the

cupboard. “I’ll be here for a while. We’ll have plenty of time to talk, so you two have fun.
Please, don’t spend your vacation worrying about me.”

“I don’t like to think of you sitting alone for three weeks.”

“I’ll be fine. Right now I’m going to make myself some dinner, take a walk, and then I’m

going to just relax. I brought a ton of books with me from New York and I’m going to enjoy
lying in Dad’s hammock on the back porch reading. It’s going to be great.”

After her parents passed the phone back and forth for goodbyes, Victoria hung up and let

out a long, exasperated breath. She’d be lucky if the elder Cambridge’s didn’t cut their trip short
on her behalf. Wonderful as her parents were, their over protectiveness often ran to the extreme,
which was why she’d been deliberately vague about her reasons for coming home. She’d only
told them that she’d resigned her position at Beck & Donnelly Advertising over a personnel
issue. She hadn’t yet explained exactly how personal a personnel issue it was. Of course, they’d
understand and support her decision to leave a job and a lifestyle that made her miserable, but
she didn’t want sympathy right now.

Victoria felt like a failure and she wanted time to get over that before her parents

returned. After all those years of school and climbing the corporate ladder to earn the assistant
vice president position she’d wanted, she’d found out she couldn’t handle it. Being on top hadn’t
made her happy, as she had always believed it would. Now she had to decide what would make
her happy and why she hadn’t been smart enough to figure it all out sooner.

Admitting this to Adam and Alliana was going to be horrendous and she needed time to

build up her resolve of good cheer and stiff-upper-lip or she’d melt into an insecure puddle when

HUNTER’S MATE Bernadette Gardner

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faced with their loving understanding. One thing Victoria Cambridge couldn’t stand was
appearing weak and ill-prepared, even in front of her parents.

She surveyed the steak which was still frozen solid and decided she wasn’t as hungry as

she thought. Maybe after a walk out back, she’d feel like eating. Right now, the gnawing in her
gut came from restlessness and the need to put her mistakes behind her rather than lack of food.

She grabbed a light jacket from the mud room and headed out the back kitchen door into

the spring twilight.

* * * *

“The female has been sighted.” Cherra-Sha’s quiet voice intruded on Kash’s daily

meditation. He looked up, bearing his incisors at the Katavarri’s medical officer. Her pure white
fur bristled at his expression. “I’m sorry to disturb you, Kash, but Sirris would like you to take
your place. We will have the female on board within the hour and you are to begin bonding with
her immediately.”

“Bonding.” Kash nodded and rose from his comfortable seat in the ship’s common area.

He met Cherra-Sha’s amber gaze with his own. “Such a pleasant euphemism for tricking her into
believing she can trust me.”

Cherra-Sha hissed and shook her head. “It is the most humane way to illicit mating. We

have no desire to harm the hybrid. She’s invaluable to us, but it’s highly unlikely she will accept
breeding willingly. This subterfuge will ensure her cooperation and prevent unnecessary stress or
injury.”

The medic placed a hand on Kash’s shoulder and he forced himself not to flinch at the

contact considering that, of the Katavarri’s crew, Cherra-Sha was the least offensive to him. “I
know you have reservations about this procedure, Kash. I respect that you have agreed to lend
your support to this cause despite your personal uncertainties. Many will envy you in the
generations to come. Remember that you will be the father of a new race of Sha-Shiri. Your
offspring will be the first of the true shifters and they will herald a new era. You are an
ambassador to the future and the ‘relationship’ you forge with the hybrid female will set the
precedent for human/Sha-Shiri cross-breeding. Your name will grace the annals of medical
history.”

Kash tried to ignore the sick feeling that rose from the pit of his stomach at Cherra-Sha’s

words. If she only knew the true extent of his ‘personal uncertainties’.

He stepped back, disengaging from her touch. “History is often unkind to the pioneers,

Cherra. With all the opposition to cross-breeding from both the Avan’tek and the Sha’tek
factions, I’m less than confident I’ll ever be hailed as a hero for my participation in this
mission.”

Cherra-Sha tilted her head and drew her lips back in a rueful grin. “Wait and see, Kash.

Wait and see. Go, now and prepare to meet your mate.”

* * * *

Early spring rains had left the meadow behind the Cambridge farmhouse verdant and

spongy. Evening dew glistened in the fading light, catching Victoria’s eye more than once with
diamond like sparkles as she picked her way through the old hiking trails toward the beginning
of the woods.

With sweet country air in her lungs and nothing but the sound of birds for company, her

problems began to fade from conscious thought. Maybe after a week or two of this place, she’d
gain enough perspective to decide what to do next.

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For now, her only concern was putting Beck & Donnelly, and specifically Mark Beck,

out of her mind and working up the good kind of tired that would permit her the decent night’s
sleep she desperately craved.

She jogged a little to get her blood pumping, but it felt too much like running for the

subway. Victoria had never enjoyed running the way her mother did, and the lazy April evening
seemed to be made for nothing more than a leisurely stroll. She was tired of rushing through her
life, trying to achieve something she wasn’t sure she wanted. She settled back to a walk and
concentrated on putting one foot in front of the other and enjoying the journey rather than
focusing only on her destination.

At the edge of the forest she paused, remembering her father’s caution. When she got

back to the house, she’d call old Chief Walters and let him know she was at home. Likely he’d
have patrols coming out this way anyway, since her mother always informed the local police
when the Cambridge property was going to be empty for a stretch. In Victoria’s early childhood
there’d been the specter of her mother’s ex-husband, a vicious man named Sid, who’d spent a
good portion of his life in jail. Despite having Adam around, it had taken Alliana years to fully
release the fear that he’d come to find her one day. The news of his death in prison when
Victoria was a teenager marked a sort of exhalation, a release of tension that had underscored
long dark nights and the rare occasions when Adam’s work as a zoologist took him out of town
without his family.

That milestone hadn’t made either of her parents any less protective, though, and to this

day, the local police chief was informed of any and all unusual happenings on the Cambridge
property. The last thing Victoria needed was to get herself arrested for trespassing in her own
backyard.

She’d just about decided to turn back home when she saw it. The flash of neon green

among the trees struck a familiar cord within her and curiosity drew her deeper into the woods.

Where the trees were most densely packed and the shadows the deepest, Victoria heard

sounds. The whine of something electrical, heavy footsteps, and whispered words reached her
over the light rustle of new leaves.

A decade had passed since hunting had been outlawed in this area, but even the laws

didn’t stop some of the die hard, trigger happy fools that roamed the designated hunting grounds
to the north. At least once a year someone shot a buck in these parts and was usually arrested
before they dragged the carcass off of Cambridge land.

But hunting season didn’t begin until the fall.

Victoria surged forward, unafraid. She might have been a city girl at heart but she’d been

raised in Allegheny County and nothing in these woods scared her, armed or not.

“Hey you! What are you doing back here?” Her voice sounded thin and fragile in the

encroaching dark. She cleared her throat and prepared to yell again when the neon glow flashed
like lightening. A shadowy form passed between the trees ahead. The dull whine she’d heard
became an earsplitting hiss that made her head throb and her stomach churn.

Victoria stumbled and put her hand out to steady herself as the world spun around her. A

clawed hand grasped hers and deep blue eyes with vertical pupils loomed above her, visible in
the center of a white haze that spread outward like a veil.

She reared back, too shocked to believe what she saw. Before she could call for help, her

body folded to the ground, and blackness closed over her.

HUNTER’S MATE Bernadette Gardner

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Chapter Two

“Based on our limited knowledge of human physiology, she seems healthy.” Cherra-

Sha’s report seemed to please Sirris, who nodded vigorously.

The captain rose from where he’d been crouching in the holding cell with Cherra on one

side of him and Kash on the other. The room seemed far too small now that the hybrid female lay
unconscious in the center of the floor at their feet.

With a nod to Kash, Sirris and the medic stepped out of the cell. Cherra activated the

force shield that separated the cell from the rest of the Katavarri’s infirmary, leaving Kash inside
with his new mate.

While Sirris and Cherra huddled over the results of the copious medical scans Cherra had

run on the female, Kash surveyed their guest. Her body was long and slim, with a curving
musculature that gave her an interesting shape--much softer and more rounded than that of a
Sha-Shiri female. Thin cloth of a nondescript shade of gray covered her from neck to ankles,
conforming to the curves of her body. Her hands and feet were naked, completely furless, and
her claws were rounded and blunt, hardly useful for defense. Dark hair swept back from high
above her brows and reddish highlights glinted on the curls that obscured part of her face.

Kash resisted the urge to poke her. Cherra seemed convinced she was not injured, yet she

lay so still, Kash had begun to fear she might have been damaged by the tranquilizer net in which
they’d captured her.

When she finally stirred with a soft moan, Kash couldn’t keep the relief out of his voice.

“I believe she’s waking up. You’d better opaque the field.”

Cherra obeyed, and the glowing force shield solidified into a wall of silver gray that was

indistinguishable from the other three that made up the sparse containment cell. At least there’d
be the illusion of privacy for Kash to begin his so called ‘courtship’ of the hybrid.

He folded his legs under him in a crouch and prepared for her first reaction to his

appearance. All the previous studies of humans had concluded that the primate race was terribly
xenophobic. Hopefully the female’s Sha-Shiri genes would help her accept what she would see
when she awoke. Though Kash wondered, what were the odds that she even knew her full
heritage? She certainly didn’t look Sha-Shiri, even in part.

Cherra’s examinations had revealed round pupils in her brilliant green eyes, little to no

fur on her body, and nearly flat incisors. Her ears were rounded as well, and her tongue was
moist and fleshy behind straight, white teeth and full, pink lips.

Kash thought the Val’tek were out of their minds to want to merge human and Sha-Shiri

DNA again if this pallid, soft, seemingly defenseless female would be the result. Cross-breeding
would accomplish nothing.

She groaned and Kash tensed. He sheathed his claws through force of will, determined

not to appear hostile. Regardless of his personal distaste for human physicalities, he had no
desire to frighten her more than necessary.

In the blink of an eye she woke, wild eyed and angry. Kash shifted backward when she

rolled to her knees in front of him. “What the fuck!”

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Kash had to admit her survival instincts were impressive for a human. Her movement

immediately shielded vital organs from attack. She bared her teeth at him and by her scent he
could tell her blood was awash with adrenalin--all this only seconds after regaining
consciousness.

“You’ve nothing to fear from me.” Kash wrapped his tongue around the guttural human

words. He’d spent much of the journey to earth learning human speech and though he considered
himself fluent, he couldn’t help but wonder how an entire civilization could communicate
effectively using such nonsensical sounds.

Her round eyes locked on his, and for a moment Kash feared she would pounce on him

and he’d be forced to grapple with her. He’d been warned by Cherra that a human bite with those
dull teeth was not only painful but terribly unsanitary.

Rather than attacking, though, she stunned him by drawing in a deep breath and sitting

back on her haunches, mimicking his own position. She brushed a cascade of dark hair from her
lustrous eyes and narrowed her gaze at him. “Jesus H. You’re Sha-Shiri.”

* * * *

Victoria’s cell mate sniffed the air between them and the corded muscles beneath his

velvet pelt coiled in anticipation. She’d surprised him, though not nearly as much as he’d
surprised her by speaking perfect English.

He was gorgeous, all sleek golden fur, blonde mane, and tawny amber eyes. A dark

leather harness crossed his broad chest, the jeweled straps separating triangular pectorals tipped
with brown nipples. A black loincloth hung from a thick belt that sat high on his waist making
his torso seem compact and amazingly powerful. With his booted feet folded beneath his calves
and his massive thighs flexed, he looked ready to spring at her. Instinctively, she blanked her
expression, fighting to keep the loopy, excited grin she felt from exposing her teeth to him.

When he held out one hand to her, she saw that his claws were sheathed. His lips were

also closed, hiding his own sharp teeth to convey lack of aggression. “I will not hurt you.”

“Good. I’m relieved.” She put her hand out toward his and brushed her fingertips against

his palm. At the brief contact, her heart jackhammered and she let out an involuntary gasp. Good
God, she’d just touched an alien.

“You know what I am?” he asked.

“Of course. I’m half Sha-Shiri.”

* * * *

Kash glanced at the camouflaged shield and wondered if Cherra and Sirris were as

shocked by the female’s revelation as he was. They’d all surmised that due to the suspicious
nature of human society, the hybrid’s Sha-Shiri heritage would have most likely been hidden
from her to keep her safe from the authorities. The fact that she knew of her status would no
doubt only serve to further the cause of the Val’tek and expedite their ill-conceived breeding
program.

“We had not expected you would be aware of this.”

The female leaned back, crossing her arms over her chest. “My father told me everything.

I know he came to earth twenty-six years ago with a scientific hunting party to study North
American animals. He was injured and left in the woods, expected to die, but my mother found
him, and even though his hunting party returned, against the rules, to find him and bring him
home, he decided to stay with her. I spent my whole life hoping I’d get to meet some of his
people one day. By the way, I wish you’d just said hello. No need to knock me out and lock me

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up.” She finished with a pointed glance at the featureless walls of the cell. “I ... uh ... mean you
no harm and I’m not afraid.”

Kash breathed easily for the first time since her arrival. “I apologize for our methods. I

trust you’re not injured.”

“I’ll recover from a bump on the head.” She held out her hand to him again and Kash

brushed her fingers with his own, as she’d done to him. The softness of her naked skin surprised
him. “I’m Victoria Cambridge, by the way. I suppose you were in the woods looking for me?”
Now she drew back her lips and Kash had to remind himself that the gesture denoted humor and
happiness among humans rather than a show of strength.

He ‘smiled’ back. “Do you?”

“My father always said, after he sent his hunting party away for good, most of the eastern

half of the United States would be off limits for a long time. I have to figure the only reason
you’d come back would be to meet me and find out how I turned out.”

Kash began to worry that the hybrid was perhaps too intelligent for her own good. Fear of

the Sha-Shiri might have kept her compliant with his plans, but her obvious curiosity might get
them both in trouble before his true mission even began. He rose, stretching his stiff leg muscles
and offered his hand again to help her up, as well.

“You figured correctly. Our curiosity about you brought us back to find you and learn

from you. I hope you’re not offended by our ignorance in assuming you would resist our efforts
to contact you. Our doctor has performed some medical tests on you already and, with your
permission, would like to do more.”

She laughed, a guttural sound that would have startled Kash had he not spent so much

time studying human interactions. “I always imagined alien probes would factor into my life at
some point. I’m cool with it. Did you find anything interesting?”

“Only that you are in heat.”

* * * *

Victoria’s whole body stiffened. She wasn’t sure what kind of a response she expected,

but this certainly wasn’t it. She reared back a little, taking a step away from her nameless captor.
“I’m what?”

“You are ripe for mating. According to our healer’s calculations, your ovulation cycle is

about to begin. Sexual intercourse at this time would have the highest likelihood of resulting in
conception.”

She stared at him, jaw slack, heart pounding in her ears like a drummer on steroids.

“You’ve got to be kidding me.”

“I could summon the healer to explain the human reproductive cycle, if you’re

unfamiliar--”

“No thanks. I’m familiar.” She cut him off with a wave of her hand then brought her

fingers up and pinched the bridge of her nose. This was utterly insane. “Please tell me this isn’t
some sort of ‘Mars needs women’ plot because I’m really not in the mood.” Her thoughts turned
briefly to Mark Beck and the indecent proposal he’d made that had precipitated her decision to
leave Beck & Donnelly in the dust. Did she have the word ‘breeder’ stamped on her forehead in
neon letters or something?

She looked at the Sha-Shiri who had narrowed his golden gaze on her. Maybe she did.

“If you’re referring to the fourth planet in this system, all of our studies show it to be

uninhabited.”

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She sighed. Pop culture references would be lost on an alien of course. “So you haven’t

kidnapped me in order to repopulate a dying planet?”

His hesitation made her nervous. “Yes and no.”

Good lord, this just kept getting better. She cocked one hip at him and gave him her best

‘don’t bullshit me’ stare. “You’d better start explaining, Felix, or I’ll be forced to hurt you.”

“My name is not Felix. It’s Kash-Koori. I’m a member of the ... Val’tek, a faction of Sha-

Shiri society dedicated to forging peaceful coexistence with humans through interbreeding. As a
hybrid--the only human/Sha-Shiri hybrid in existence--you are a great asset to our cause. This
ship, the Katavarri, has been sent to collect you and I have been chosen to mate with you in an
effort to produce another generation of hybrid offspring, hopefully one that will be more suited
to space travel and life on the Sha-Shiri homeworld. It is our sincere hope that you will be
amenable to this exchange and every effort will be made to ensure your comfort and well-being
during the process.”

Victoria blinked at him. After a fulminate pause, she spoke. “You rehearsed that speech

for a long time, didn’t you?”
“Yes.”

“Hmm. So I’ve been chosen for the Sha-Shiri breeding program.”

“Yes.”
“I’m

flattered.”

Kash-Koori seemed shocked by this. What had he expected? Apparently Victoria

Cambridge’s DNA was in high demand all over the universe.

“We needn’t begin immediately, of course. It was factored into our mission schedule that

you would require a few days of adjustment before intercourse could occur. To that end, I would
be happy to answer any of your questions and perhaps show you the ship and introduce you to
the other crew members who are understandably anxious to meet you.”

“Slow down, buster. You’re talking like this mating thing is a done deal. I didn’t say I

was amenable to any exchange of anything at the moment.”

Kash appeared disappointed now. He lowered his head and nodded. “Of course we’re

prepared to detail the particulars of the breeding program for you. You seem intelligent enough
to--”
“Intelligent

enough? Yeah. Okay. Let’s put the breaks on. Just so we’re clear, nobody is

mating with me now or any time in the foreseeable future. I’d be thrilled to tour the ship and
meet the crew--in fact it’s been a dream of mine to meet some of my long lost alien relatives, but
I’m not having anyone’s baby, got that?”

Kash nodded. Again his hesitation worried Victoria and she took a step back as his

features morphed from benign curiosity to thinly veiled aggression. He bared his teeth, but this
time not in a Sha-Shirian attempt at a smile. A low growl rumbled in his wide chest and he
reached for her arm and pulled her close. “Your cooperation would be greatly appreciated, but it
is not required.”

Victoria’s body responded to the threat on instinct. She’d always had a hair trigger self-

defense mechanism and the sudden change in Kash’s demeanor set off every alarm bell in her
still partially scrambled brain. She sprang at him, fists flying, without thought as to what she
would do with the rest of the crew if she managed to rip her way through this one arrogant Sha-
Shiri.

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11

His body was like a brick wall covered in hot velvet. He grabbed her wrists and held

them, absorbing vicious kicks to his shins without flinching. “I have no desire to harm you.” His
voice had returned to the even, almost friendly tone he had used when she first awoke.

“Well, I have a desire to harm you! You picked the wrong girl for your little baby making

scheme, fuzz face.” She combined a kick with a self-defense move she’d learned from her father
and in an instant had the Sha-Shiri on the floor. Unfortunately he must have learned the same
move because he landed on top of her rather than beneath her as she’d planned.

The breath left her lungs in an explosive whoosh when his broad chest descended on hers.

In an instant he’d straddled her and trapped her arms above her head.

For some reason, Victoria felt no fear, only anger. She brought one knee up to connect

with whatever lurked behind his loincloth. His privates must have been protected by something,
because pain shot up from her knee cap to her hip and she yelped. He only grunted and stretched
his body flat over hers.

“Don’t struggle,” he whispered in her ear, even as she bucked her hips against him. “The

healer will come in and sedate you again. I will not harm you unless you force me to.”

“Consider yourself forced--get the hell off me.” She writhed, arching her back hard

against the cushiony floor of the cell. She managed to wriggle one hand free of his and balled it
into a tight fist.

Two things happened then. One wall of the cell disappeared, popping out of existence as

if it had never been there, then another Sha-Shiri raced into the room. This one was pure white
with delicate features and tawny golden eyes like Kash’s. Victoria briefly registered that this one
wore a similar leather harness and jeweled belt, but its loincloth extended all the way around its
body like a short skirt. Female? Victoria didn’t have time to ask. Her last coherent action was to
land a vicious right hook to Kash’s jaw before the newcomer jammed a sharp object into her
thigh.

Victoria screamed a litany of curses before she blacked out.

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Chapter Three

An hour later, Kash sat in the infirmary just outside the female’s holding cell. A veil of

shame and guilt clouded his thoughts, making the lump on his jaw and the scratches on the side
of his face hurt even more with each beat of his weary heart.

Cherra-Sha bustled about, preparing a salve for his wounds and periodically checking on

the vitals of the hybrid who still lay unconscious in the center of her cell.

Though his warning to her had had the desired effect, he still regretted inciting her to

violence. Making her afraid of him would help his cause and delay the Val’tek mission.
Nevertheless he felt like a savage. He’d employed every ounce of strength he had to subdue her
without causing permanent injury, and she’d fought him valiantly--like a Sha-Shiri. It had taken
a double dose of sedative to calm her and now her breathing was shallow and her furless skin
terribly pale.

Oddly, both Cherra and Sirris seemed pleased by Kash’s dubious progress.

“Don’t look so sullen, Kash. We expected this. It’s actually good to see that she possesses

some Sha-Shiri traits. I feared our delicate feline genome would be completely recessive to the
boorish primate DNA,” Cherra said.

Kash allowed her to tend him, but flinched at the discomfort she caused when she dabbed

stinging salve onto his injuries.
“You’re

certain

she’ll recover?”

“She’ll be perfectly fine. You, however, will need a second dose of antibiotics. Who

knows what bacteria lurk under those blunt claws of hers? Who would have guessed she could
do so much damage?”

“I would have guessed.”

Kash looked up at the new voice. Ashan-Kona, Katavarri’s engineer and pilot, stood in

the doorway of the infirmary. “I came to see how things were progressing,” he said. “Apparently
not very well.”

The brown-pelted pilot bent to examine Kash’s wounds. “Blunt claws create ragged tears

that will heal slowly. You’ll be scarred for life.” There was a smirk in Ashan’s voice. “You’d
better take those antibiotics. I’d hate to lose my best Greshm partner.”

Kash’s mood lightened only marginally. He’d managed to find some enjoyment in

gambling with the pilot during the journey from Sha-Shiri. If not for their political differences he
might have even seen Ashan as a friend. “I trust Cherra will repair my face. And I can still play
Greshm with you. I need to win back the money I’ve lost.”

“There’s no time for games,” Cherra said. She finished her ministrations and Kash

growled at the painful sting of the healing salve. “You need to be in the holding cell when the
hybrid regains consciousness. You must work harder at establishing your bond.”

“Are you sure that’s wise, Cherra?” Ashan asked, voicing Kash’s own concern. “Perhaps

Kash should observe from outside until his injuries heal. Thus far he’s proven no match for the
primate female.”

Kash snarled good-naturedly. “I let her injure me to boost her confidence.”

Ashan snorted. “Of course.”

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13

Cherra made a disparaging face. “I don’t recall sociology or xenobiology on your work

history report, Ashan. Leave it to me to decide how we will proceed with the breeding program.”

Ashan managed to look contrite and Kash shared a glance with him. “I have a plan to

gain the female’s trust,” he said. “But it will require lying to her.” He did need to get back in the
cell, wounded or not. He had to establish a bond, but not for the reasons Cherra thought.

The healer shrugged. “Whatever is necessary. For the sake of the offspring, I prefer not to

do this by force and I don’t know enough about human physiology yet to attempt artificial
insemination. You’ll have to do whatever you must in order to impregnate her before her fertile
cycle ends.”

Kash nodded, his eyes on the clear force shield that separated him from his ‘mate.’ “I will

do what I have to do. Let me back in the cell before she awakens.”

* * * *

Victoria’s head spun and her body ached, particularly her right hand. The solid hook

she’d landed to the Sha-Shiri’s jaw had rattled her bones all the way up to her shoulder.

Surprisingly, she’d stunned him, but when the white Sha-Shiri, the female, came in with

the tranquilizer, she knew she’d been beat. The sedative the female had injected into her thigh
knocked her flat in under a minute. That scared her more than the prospect of another round with
the golden male.

Resistance might be futile, but it didn’t mean she had to make it easy for her captors.

A heaviness settled in her chest as she lay contemplating if she should open her eyes and

give away the fact that she was finally awake. She’d longed for this, meeting real Sha-Shiri,
partly to prove her father’s wild stories that she’d spent much of her adolescence doubting, and
partly to prove to herself that she was as special and unique as her parents had always told her.
To be their prisoner, their lab experiment rather than their guest, broke her heart.

After a few moments of stretching, testing her aching muscles, she blinked and dragged

herself to a sitting position.

She tensed when she realized Kash sat on the cell floor across from her. Small butterfly

bandages spanned the deepest of the scratches she’d inflicted on his cheek bone and the lower
half of his jaw looked swollen. Good.

She couldn’t decide if he looked angry or apologetic and at this point she didn’t really

care. He’d look a lot worse when she finished with him if she had her way.

At least he seemed relaxed. He leaned back against the wall in a casual pose, arms at his

sides, legs crossed. Despite herself, her eyes dropped to the loincloth that rested over the bulge
between his legs. She hated to admit she was curious. Her knee still smarted from the blow she’d
landed there. Was he really that hard, or did Sha-Shiri males wear some type of athletic cup or
codpiece beneath their loincloths?

As a teenager she’d fantasized about becoming a Sha-Shiri princess. Kash fit the

description of the alien male she’d always imagined. Though his feline features were less
pronounced than she’d expected based on her mother’s descriptions of her father’s natural form,
his amber eyes and blonde mane made her think of royalty--the lion, stately and austere.

He was beautiful, feral, sensual, and obviously powerful. The thought of letting him

touch her again didn’t exactly turn her off, but she’d be damned if she was going to be anyone’s
breed mare, human or alien.

“Are you well?” he asked, his voice even and rich.

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14

“No, I’m not. Do I look well? I’ve been drugged and heaven knows what you did to me

while I was out.” Her body trembled at the thought. For all she knew, the ‘breeding’ was over
already.

“I did nothing. The healer examined you for injuries and has been monitoring your vital

signs. As I said before, we truly have no wish to harm you. Violence is not necessary and your
cooperation will be rewarded.” He raised a hand to his cheek and Victoria felt a stab of guilt. Her
temper had gotten her into trouble quite often in her life and she wondered if perhaps playing it
cool would have helped her cause. She realized he hadn’t actually fought back when she had
attacked him. He’d merely flipped her on her back and held her down while the healer sedated
her. He could have ripped her apart with those formidable claws.

She sighed, swallowed hard, then backed into the far corner of the cell and curled into a

ball. “I can’t tell you how disappointed I am.”

He raised one brow ridge and leaned forward. “Please explain.”

“I’ve wished my whole life to meet the Sha-Shiri. My father told me all about his people

and his world. I used to imagine that one day a delegation would come for me and bring me to
Sha-Shiri to meet his family and they’d be happy to finally meet me.”

He seemed shocked by her revelation. “You will be treated with extreme deference by the

Val’tek. There are many on Sha-Shiri who are anxious to meet you and eagerly await your
arrival.”

“But only if I cooperate, right? I’m not being given a choice, am I? I mean, maybe if

you’d asked nicely or given me some time to think about it, I might consider breeding.”

His tawny eyes shifted to the cell’s fourth wall, the one that had disappeared before. They

were obviously being watched. “Do you believe in time you would be amenable to breeding?”

Victoria shrugged. She forced herself not to follow his gaze and wondered how far her

feigned cooperation would get her.

“Maybe. You’re certainly pleasing. You’re handsome, obviously powerful.” She

remembered how she’d felt trapped beneath him on the floor. With his hard body stretched over
hers and his narrow hips positioned between her thighs there’d been a moment when ... even now
her inner muscles tingled and her gaze dropped unbidden to his loincloth again.

“The trip to Sha-Shiri will last several months. Perhaps I can arrange for the breeding

schedule to be amended to allow you this time. It’s our understanding that human fertility cycles
are short and continuous. You will likely come in heat again before we arrive.”

“Several months? I figured you could drop me back home and we’d ... you know, date for

a while.” Victoria tried to smile, but the prospect of actually being so far from earth made her
stomach hurt. This was real and as things stood, she might never get home again.
“Date?”

“Go out. Well, that might be a little difficult with you looking like ... that. Don’t you have

one of those DNA shifting tablets, like the one my father used to change to human form? I bet
you’d be hot as a--”

He rose in the middle of her sentence and Victoria recognized a measure of indignation in

his feral expression. Had she offended him? “The change caused by the shifter drug can be
harmful if not made permanently. The drug was designed to morph a dead or injured body to
human form to disguise it from the authorities.”

“Yes, I know. My father explained it all to me years ago.” She looked up at his imposing

form and wondered what he was going to do next. “Um ... how about that tour? If I’m going to
be on board for a few months, it might be nice to have a look at something other than this cell.”

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15

He moved off, and hesitated in front of the fourth wall. “I will get permission from the

captain to allow you out of here, but I must have your word you will not attack anyone.”

“Scouts’ honor.” Victoria held up two fingers. Apparently Kash didn’t notice the two

others she had crossed behind her back.

“Very well. Wait here.”

She sighed. “Where else would I go?”

The fourth wall blinked away, revealing the white furred Sha-Shiri and the larger

chamber beyond. Victoria remained still, her gaze down until the wall reappeared and she was
alone again. She let out a breath. What the hell was she going to do now?

Breeding. The word echoed in her head. Shame washed over her at the memory of her

hormonal teenage fantasies. She’d imagined sex with an alien more times than she could count,
and perhaps that notion in her mind, that she was different, not fully human herself, had colored
her relationships. No man she’d met seemed worthy, until Mark Beck of course. And ultimately,
all he’d wanted her for was breeding, as well.

Was she wrong to expect the emotions that went along with sex? What was so bad about

wanting commitment and loyalty? In her fantasies she’d found herself a ‘mate’ rather than a
boyfriend or a husband, someone who, once joined with her would never be able to consider
anyone else.

Perhaps that was foolish, but hey, it was a fantasy after all. Her half Sha-Shiri blood had

given her fertile human imagination room to play for twenty-six years. In those games, though,
she’d always been the winner.

Once again, she was left with no choice but to escape. How could she find a way to get

off the ship before she was so far away from earth that she couldn’t return? Hell, for all she new
she was already half a galaxy away. She certainly wouldn’t be walking home, or hitching a ride.

Victoria’s only option was to try to get Kash to trust her, maybe even like her enough to

help her escape.

* * * *

Kash had no illusions that convincing Sirris to allow Victoria to leave the holding cell

would be easy, but he had to try. Once he could move her to another part of the ship, he could
put his plan into action, knowing she would be marginally safe.

He approached the captain in the Katavarri’s common area and forced some measure of

respect into his voice before saluting his captain.

“I hear you’re making some progress, Kash.” Sirris, sat back in his chair, a half empty

flagon of water clutched in his hand. He twirled the liquid casually while he waited for Kash’s
response.

“Very little so far.” At least that wasn’t a lie. “I believe the female will be more

cooperative if she thinks we trust her. I’ve offered to show her the ship and let her meet the other
members of the crew in return for her assurance that she will not behave violently again.”

Sirris narrowed his eyes and Kash had to wonder if the captain already saw through his

subterfuge. “Show her the ship?”

“Only certain parts of course. The observation areas, the common room perhaps. Not the

bridge of course.”

“Of course. Do you really think this will improve her disposition?” Sirris sat forward now

and placed the flagon on the table in the center of the room.

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16

“She knows she is part Sha-Shiri and has looked forward to meeting her father’s people. I

believe her curiosity can be used to our advantage. If you allow me to remove her from the
holding cell for short periods, I will take full responsibility for any ... trouble she causes.”

“She’d best cause no trouble. Make it clear to her that if she does, the consequences will

be severe. As much as I find her fascinating, and she represents an important milestone in our
genetic research, please impress upon her that she is not indispensable.”

“I believe she understands that, Captain, but I will make it clear to her.”

Sirris rose, stretching to his full height, which still left him a few inches shorter than

Kash. “Very well. Limited access to common areas of the ship, but be vigilant, Kash. The hybrid
may be more clever than she appears.”

Kash nodded. Of that, he had no doubt. He saluted Sirris again and left the common

room, eager to put the next phase of his plan in motion.

HUNTER’S MATE Bernadette Gardner

17

Chapter Four

Walking the corridors of the Katavarri with the hybrid female beside him caused an odd

mix of emotions in Kash. Since Sirris had given him leave to escort her through the ship, he felt
both wary and protective of her, and that left him off balance.

He respected her caution in dealing with Cherra-Sha and the captain and understood that

her natural curiosity had overcome some of her fear and anger at her predicament. He’d always
been an explorer himself and he understood how the joy of discovery could overcome fear of the
unknown.

When they arrived at the aft observation deck during her second excursion from her cell,

her round eyes lit with wonder at the impressive view. Despite his years as a space traveler, Kash
had never tired of the magnificence of the universe.

“Is that the moon?” she asked, pointing to the dark gray disk that dominated the center of

the wide viewport.

“That is the dark side of earth’s moon, yes. We are about to leave the planetary system.

Earth is the blue disc to the left.” He pointed to the swirling globe receding behind the satellite.

“So this is the back of the ship?” she asked.

“Yes. There is an observation port in the forward section, as well, but we could not go

there now. The view is dominated by earth’s sun and the light would be too bright, even with our
strongest shields in place.

She turned toward him, her eyes narrowing. “Why are we heading toward the sun?”

“The

Katavarri uses the gravitational field of the star to increase speed. A partial orbit of

the sun will launch us into space toward Sha-Shiri at a much faster--”

“The sling-shot effect. I’ve read about that in science fiction novels.”

“It is not fiction for us.”

“I’m impressed. Will we be passing by Venus and Mercury?”

“The two smaller planets in this system? Yes. I can arrange for you to see them when we

pass by.”

“It’s so beautiful. I always imagined what it might be like to be out here. It looks so

lonely, though.”

“There are numerous inhabited worlds that the Sha-Shiri study. Unfortunately they’re

separated by great distances and most of the alien races we’ve encountered are xenophobic, like
humans.”

“Not all humans are afraid of aliens.”

“You are proof of that.” Kash tried a human smile. “But enough of them are to make

contact problematic. Thus the Val’tek plan for cross breeding.”

“Hmm. You mentioned the Val’tek before. You said they’re a faction--so not all Sha-

Shiri are Val’tek?”

“No. In fact most are not. The Val’tek are a small but radical group of scientific

researchers seeking alliances with other worlds by genetic infiltration.” Kash chose his words
carefully. He watched the female’s face and tried to gauge her response. It intrigued him that, in
the day and a half that she’d been aboard the ship, he’d already begun to understand her

HUNTER’S MATE Bernadette Gardner

18

expressions and even the various tones of her voice. Curiosity and suspicion overlaid her next
question.

“What about the rest of the Sha-Shiri?”

“There are other factions that make up the majority of the political groupings among us.

The Avan’tek are the largest group. They are also researchers who are dedicated to peaceful
exploration but they do not condone cross-breeding. They believe peaceful alliances with alien
worlds will occur eventually but should not be forced.”

The female tilted her head. Was she reading the subtext of Kash’s words? Did she sense

his disdain for the Val’tek plan?

“Then there are the Sha’tek. They are enemies of the Val’tek and to a lesser extent the

Avan’tek. The Sha’tek are purists, radical in their belief that cross breeding is an abomination
against the Great Creator. They tolerate scientific exploration, but feel that even friendly contact
with other races should be avoided. They fear blending races or even cultures and have been
known to resort to violence to prove their point.”

Her green eyes bored into his and for the first time in his life, Kash felt naked. She saw

into his soul.

“So exactly which one are you?”

* * * *

Victoria gasped when Kash drew close to her. One swift step brought him directly into

her personal space, his face only inches from hers.

She tensed, momentarily afraid that she’d insulted him again, but she held her ground.

Her father had taught her that Sha-Shiri respected bravery. She’d get farther by not backing
down, even when she pushed his buttons.
“The

Katavarri is a Val’tek ship.” His voice was low and sensual but with an

undercurrent of warning to it.

She dipped her head and whispered, “That isn’t what I asked you.”

He put his hand on her arm then. The heat of his skin galvanized her and her body gave

an involuntary jolt of awareness. In spite of her fear each brief contact sent her heart racing and
her left her wanting more.

“Come with me to my quarters and I will tell you more.”

She managed a smirk and tried to ignore the tremor of anticipation that had begun low in

her belly. “Is that Sha-Shiri for ‘Come see my etchings?’”

His amber eyes narrowed. “I have no etchings.”

“Of course you don’t. I definitely want to hear more about Sha-Shiri politics, so lead on.”

He nodded and led her out of the observation room and swiftly through the narrow

corridors of the ship.

Kash’s quarters were on the next deck, small and sparsely furnished but with a

comfortable feel that reminded Victoria of home. Apparently her father had retained some Sha-
Shiri sense of aesthetics when he’d helped her mother redecorate the farmhouse over the years.

Kash’s beige walls, sand-toned fabrics, and the jewel colored contrasting pillows on the

narrow bed reminded her of her parents’ living room and family room.

“Hey, you’ve got a bed.” Her body ached to lie down on something softer than the foam

covered floor of the holding cell. Apparently the Sha-Shiri knew little about how to keep a
human comfortable. Thus far they’d provided nothing but the floor to sleep on and a bowl of
something to eat that looked like oatmeal but tasted like ... well, tuna. “Any chance I could get
one?”

HUNTER’S MATE Bernadette Gardner

19

“I have already discussed the possibility of assigning you crew quarters. The captain was

reluctant, but Ashan has agreed to prepare a secure location for you.”
“Ashan?”

“The ship’s engineer. You haven’t met him. He spends most of this time in the engine

room.”

Victoria surveyed the rest of the room. “Do you have a shower? I’m beginning to smell

like that glop you feed me.”

Kash frowned. “You do not like the food?”

“Gack! It’s disgusting. Didn’t you study human eating habits?”

“We studied nutrition. The food Cherra-Sha has prepared for you has one hundred

percent of all the nutrients a human body should require for perfect health, plus extra doses of
those substances she’s deemed important for pre-gestation.”

“Pre-natal vitamin stew? Good lord, no wonder it tasted so bad. Humans just don’t live

on vitamins, you know.”

“What would you prefer?”

“How about a hamburger? Or a steak? I’m half-Sha-Shiri. What do you people eat?”

He shrugged. “I will see that you are fed crew rations today.”

“That’s a start. Now,” Victoria plopped herself on the bed under Kash’s curious gaze.

“Tell me about what’s really going on here.”

He looked around the room as if he were concerned they were being observed, then he

drew close again. With him standing over her, his massive thighs touching hers and the hem of
his loincloth grazing her knee, Victoria felt small and vulnerable and undeniably feminine. She
held her breath to keep from panting.

“You are very astute for a human.”

“Nah. You’re just a bad liar. I can see the disgust in your expression when you say

‘Val’tek.’ You can’t be one of them.”

“No. I am Avan’tek. I infiltrated their ranks and volunteered for this mission in any

capacity they would take me. I would have been content as a maintenance engineer, but they
subjected all volunteers to DNA testing and pronounced me the fittest specimen for the breeding
program.”

Victoria exhaled. “So, if you’re Avan’tek, you don’t believe in cross-breeding?” Maybe

escape would be easier than she thought.

He laughed and for some reason his amusement stung her. “You are safe from me. I have

absolutely no intention of mating with a human.”

* * * *

Oddly, the hybrid looked disappointed by Kash’s confession. Her expression blanked, but

when his hand fell to her shoulder, she tensed under his touch.

He resisted the sudden urge to run his palm down the bare skin of her arm. When he’d

touched her in the observatory, the heat and softness of her nearly hairless skin surprised him.
For some reason he’d expected human skin to be rough compared to that of a Sha-Shiri.

“Please understand, I find the idea of forced breeding as distasteful as you do. My people

have sent me to assure that you are not harmed.”

The coil of tension in her muscles relaxed, but only slightly. She looked up at him again,

her jewel-like eyes wide and, to his amazement, trusting. “So what’s your plan?”

Kash knelt before the bed and looked up into her face. His hand trailed to her knee. “I

plan to commandeer the ship, but I must wait until we’re closer to the sun to avoid the risk that

HUNTER’S MATE Bernadette Gardner

20

one of the crew members might be able to send a message to Val’tek reinforcements. Once I’ve
secured them all in the medical holding cell, I will return you to earth and then take them back to
Sha-Shiri where they will face incarceration. The Avan’tek are the majority on Sha-Shiri and our
laws still govern most of society. The Val’tek operatives will be punished for their role in your
abduction.”

“Why didn’t you stop them before they got this far? It seems like on a trip lasting several

months you would have had an opportunity or two.”

Kash chuckled. Her cleverness impressed him. How many times had he wished he could

have moved sooner on his mission? “If I had interrupted the trip to earth any sooner, another
group of Val’tek would have simply tried again. Your existence is the subject of intense debate
and speculation on Sha-Shiri. When I return, I plan to report that you are dead in order to shut
down future speculation.”
“Dead?”

Kash raised his hand in a calming gesture. “I will fabricate the evidence of your death

and hopefully put an end, at least temporarily, to the discussions of cross breeding.”

He watched her luminous eyes and found himself fascinated by the thought process he

saw behind them. Finally, she smiled at him.

“I’m beginning to like you, Kash. What can I do to help?”

HUNTER’S MATE Bernadette Gardner

21

Chapter Five

“Intercourse will take place in my quarters rather than in the holding cell.” Kash steeled

himself for Cherra-Sha’s reaction to his announcement, and it came just as he expected.

“But how will I be able to monitor the process? That will never work--”

“Human’s prefer privacy for copulation--most of the time. Victoria has requested we

conduct our mating rites in a secluded place and one that is more comfortable than the cell.”

Cherra grimaced. “I have half a dozen tests I plan to run during coitus. All that data will

be lost during a private encounter.”

Kash battled to keep his voice even. “What is more important, conception or a complete

cataloging of the sexual act itself?”

Cherra huffed and the instruments she’d been cleaning clattered in their metallic bins. “I

don’t know why we’re suddenly allowing the hybrid to dictate these things. First she requests to
be moved from the infirmary, then she demands to eat crew rations rather than the supplements
I’ve painstakingly prepared for her with her specific physiology in mind. Now she wants privacy
for mating. Weren’t you supposed to impress upon her the fact that she is, ultimately, a
prisoner?”

It was Kash’s turn to make a face. “The success of the breeding program relies on

Victoria. In order to complete our objective, I would think making a few extra concessions for
her comfort would be immaterial.”

Cherra turned to face him. “Victoria? You’ve begun referring to her by her name. Despite

your initial reluctance, it seems you are beginning to bond with her.”

The curious glint in Cherra’s amber eyes made Kash uncomfortable. He’d noticed, too,

that he no longer thought of Victoria as ‘the hybrid female’. He’d come to respect her and even
enjoy her company, though he hesitated to call their interactions ‘bonding’. He swallowed his
objections. “Obviously. Why else would I be preparing my quarters for the mating process?”

“Good! Good. You’d better get started then.” Cherra turned back to her instruments. “I

suppose I can take my readings shortly after coitus rather than during, though the conditions
won’t be ideal. By my calculations, her fertility cycle is underway, so today would be perfect for
conception. Go, do it now.”

Kash could think of no comment other than to excuse himself from the infirmary. Being

ordered to copulate would have seemed amusing under any other circumstances.

Today was indeed a perfect day, but not for mating.

* * * *

Victoria lay on Kash’s narrow bed, trying to still her runaway thoughts. She’d been on

the Katavarri for three days now, while her steak dinner sat defrosting on the kitchen counter at
home. Had her parents tried to call again?

If they hadn’t been able to contact her they would probably have called Chief Walters by

now. She’d bet the police were crawling all over the farm. Her parents would be frantic. They
were probably racing home from the other side of the planet right now, imagining every horrible
scenario that could happen to a woman alone on a secluded farm.

HUNTER’S MATE Bernadette Gardner

22

And here she was lying on the bed of a Sha-Shiri double agent, wondering, on top of

everything else, just what was so wrong with her that he had ‘absolutely no intention’ of mating
with her.

It shouldn’t have bothered her. In fact, logically, she should have been relieved that Kash

wasn’t planning on impregnating her for the cause of scientific research. Unfortunately, her
fragile human ego couldn’t take any more rejection. She’d been prepared to fight him off, maybe
even let him get to second base just so she could feel that velvety skin against her again.
Whenever he touched her, her heart fluttered and her nerves jumped. She wanted to feel his
tongue on her skin, his long fingers dancing over her body, delving into her core.

But he didn’t want her, not even out of curiosity or in the name of peaceful human/Sha-

Shiri relations.

It irked her to no end and made her wish Mark Beck was in front of her just so she could

tell him off again, and again, and again.

When the door to Kash’s quarters opened, she jumped. Guilt at the naughty direction of

her thoughts heated her cheeks. “There you are! I was worried. What took you so long?”

Kash crossed the room and stood beside the bed. “I stopped in engineering. I had to wait

until Ashan took his meal break.”

“Is everything ready, then?”

“Yes. Cherra believes we are engaged in intercourse. The captain is resting and Ashan is

eating in the common room. I’ve prepared the sedation gas to be disbursed throughout the ship
except for the storage capsule where you and I will be waiting.”

Victoria rose and tried to ignore the tremor in her knees. Until this moment, she’d put all

her faith into Kash’s expertise, but now doubt crept over her resolve. If this coup failed, if Kash
was exposed as an Avan’tek spy, she’d end up as chattel--nothing more than the hybrid female
breeder. Maybe Kash wasn’t interested in having sex with her, but some other Sha-Shiri male
probably wouldn’t mind.

“I’m a little nervous,” she confessed as he took her hand and led her from the room.

“All will be well. Hurry. The gas canister is on a timed release. We have four minutes to

reach the capsule.”

They hurried through the corridors to the lower decks of the ship where the only sound

was the hum of the massive engines that propelled the Katavarri toward the sun.

The storage capsule was no bigger than a broom closet. In fact, it held what appeared to

be cleaning supplies and smelled faintly antiseptic. Kash literally pushed Victoria inside and
followed after her, pulling the air tight door shut behind them.

Enveloped in darkness, her body pressed against his velvety chest, Victoria could do

nothing but concentrate on her own breathing.

This close to him, his masculine scent filling her lungs with each nervous, shallow

inhalation, she felt both lightheaded and supremely protected.

She caught her breath and a tingle of awareness skated along her taut nerve endings when

one of his arms came around her waist.

“What are you doing?” she whispered the words against his chest. Her fingers brushed

the flat oval of his nipple and he tensed. Did she imagine his sharp intake of breath at the
intimate contact?

Beneath Victoria’s cheek, his voice rumbled like thunder. “I’m counting seconds. Soon

the gas will fill the ship. After two minutes it will dissipate to a safe level and we will be able
to--”

HUNTER’S MATE Bernadette Gardner

23

“I meant, with your hand.” His fingers had slid down to the curve of her ass and the

pressure on her flesh seemed a little firmer than absolutely necessary in the tight confines of the
capsule.

“I’m holding you.”

“Why?” The question slipped out on a tremulous sigh.

“There is no alternative in this small space.”

He had her there. Of course in this intimate position, he had her, period. She longed to

spread her legs to accommodate his hips between her thighs. The leather harness he wore was
pressing into her belly through her thin sweat pants and beneath it, she was certain she felt the
rigid outline of his cock against her leg. Or was it simply the hard shell he wore beneath his loin
cloth that protected his vitals from a knee in the groin?

“How much longer?” she asked as if she wanted their incarceration to end.

“Another minute. Your skin is growing damp. Are you ill?”

“I’m sweating. In case you haven’t noticed, it’s a little warm in here.”

“That’s an effect of our oxygen usage. You feel warmer because the carbon dioxide level

in the capsule is rising with each breath we take.”

“Oh, is that why?” Victoria shifted and Kash’s hand dropped a little lower. If she hadn’t

been sweating a moment ago, she certainly was now. “For someone who isn’t turned on by
humans, you don’t have a problem copping a feel, do you?”
“Copping

a

feel?”

Victoria wiggled in a vain attempt to dislodge Kash’s hand from her rear end. The

movement only served to increase the friction of his hard abdominal muscles against hers. She
considered reaching back and plucking his long fingers from her rump, but in all honesty, she
didn’t want to do that.

She looked up into complete blackness, but she imagined his beautiful feline features and

wondered if, like a human male, his innocence was all an act.

“Time is up. It should be safe for us to exit now.”

“Should

be?”

Now his hand did drop and devoid of his touch, she felt bereft. He opened the door of the

capsule and they stumbled into the dimly lit corridor beyond.

She watched him sniff the air and rolled her eyes. “Don’t you think if you could still

smell it, we’d be asleep by now?”

He merely blinked at her. Men. Didn’t matter what planet they came from, they were all

from Mars.

“I will retrieve Ashan and the captain. You will secure Cherra-Sha. Put her in the holding

cell in the infirmary and be sure to lock the force shield. Do you remember the code?”

“I remember the symbols you showed me.”

“Good. Hurry. They will remain sedated for little more than an hour.”

Victoria nodded and pivoted in the direction they’d come from. Hopefully the Sha-Shiri

healer wasn’t as heavy as she looked. It wouldn’t be easy dragging her body into the holding
cell.

* * * *

Kash watched Victoria until she rounded the bend in the corridor then took off in the

opposite direction, pausing momentarily to adjust the codpiece beneath his loincloth.

Despite his personal stance on breeding with humans, having her rub her smooth, supple

body against him in the warm, close confines of the storage capsule had aroused him. His sex

HUNTER’S MATE Bernadette Gardner

24

organ had grown full and pulsed intermittently with the need for sexual release. Obviously he’d
reacted to her female scent, which was surprisingly similar to that of a full-blooded Sha-Shiri.

He’d detected the subtle aroma of estrus in her musk which signaled fertility and

naturally caused an answering chemical response for which he could not be held responsible. He
could not fight instinct, of course. Therefore, he reasoned, his arousal was perfectly natural.
Resisting the instinct to mate would not be easy, but he was a civilized being after all.

He forced himself to think of other things, such as the myriad tasks he’d have to perform

once the crew had been safely incarcerated in the holding cell.

That calmed his ardor considerably, but despite his best efforts, images of Victoria

plagued him. Would she respond as a Sha-Shiri female would to sexual stimulation? Would she
purr for him and anchor herself to his body with her blunt human claws while he slid his sex
organ deep inside her slick channel?

Would she orgasm the way a Sha-Shiri female did, with howls and cries of ecstasy and

inner tremors that would squeeze streams of his hot seed deep into her womb?

Kash halted his trek to the bridge and took a moment to berate himself for such aberrant

thoughts. He was not here to impregnate the hybrid female. He had to remind himself that his
people were dedicated to exactly the opposite--preserving her integrity and saving her from the
Val’teks’ damnable breeding program. How could he entertain such savage thoughts?

Shame replaced his arousal, unpleasant but effective at calming his desire. With his

mission foremost now in his mind, he entered the bridge.

There he found Sirris slumped in his command chair. Rather than moving to lift the

sleeping captain and carry him to the infirmary, Kash froze. Every nerve in his body went taut
and every hair on his body stood on end.

Something was wrong. In the forward view screen Earth’s sun loomed large and nearly

blinding even with the Katavarri’s thickest shields in place.

By now, the ship should have been almost at the perigee of its partial orbit, picking up

speed to slingshot around the star and into deep space toward the Sha-Shiri homeworld, but the
navigation controls were all dark. As were the captain’s eyes.

Sirris was not asleep and the Katavarri was not on course.

HUNTER’S MATE Bernadette Gardner

25

Chapter Six

Victoria wrapped both arms around her middle and hugged herself, partly for comfort and

partly to stop her own shivering. She didn’t know much about Sha-Shiri physiology, but she
knew dead when she saw it.

A wave of despair washed over her at the thought of telling Kash that somehow the

sedative gas he’d released had killed Cherra-Sha instead of merely putting her to sleep.

How would Kash react? Surely he’d be shocked and devastated. Victoria believed

wholeheartedly that he had no intention of permanently hurting the Val’tek members of the
Katavarri’s crew. Was she wrong to give him the benefit of the doubt?

When he arrived in the infirmary with Sirris’s limp body in his arms, she tensed and

curled a little deeper into herself. She took a deep breath, still unsure of how to break the news to
him.

“The captain is dead,” he said before she could make her lips form words. Sirris lay on

the next medical cot, his head lolled to one side, his once brilliant blue eyes now a dull silvery
gray, just like Cherra’s amber ones had become.

Victoria huffed out a startled breath. “Uh...”

“I know. Cherra is dead, as well.”

“What...could have happened? Was it an overdose, or an allergic reaction to the sedative

gas?”

Kash turned his golden eyes on her, his features set like stone. “It was murder.”

* * * *

Kash held himself stiff and aloof, resisting the urge to move to Victoria’s side and

comfort her. She looked lost. Her round eyes were wide and her face was paler than usual. He
pretended not to notice that she shrank from him as he moved around the medical cot on which
he’d placed Sirris’s corpse.

“I did not kill them.”

“I didn’t think ... I mean--”

“You are naturally afraid that I’m capable of this kind of retaliation.”

She shook her head. “No! I’m not, I just ... who?”

“Ashan. Listen to this.” Kash crossed the room and activated the external communication

channel which had picked up and recorded Ashan-Kona’s last transmission.

In Sha-Shiri, the Katavarri’s engineer said, “I have completed my mission. The Val’tek

traitors are dead, along with the hybrid abomination. I have set the Katavarri on a collision
course with the system’s star and I await rendezvous beyond the orbit of the fourth planet. Hail
Sha’tek!”

“He says he has--”

“I know exactly what he said. I understand Sha-Shiri.”

Kash stared at Victoria and in spite of his anger at Ashan, his esteem for the human

female rose even higher. To have learned her father’s language marked her as extremely
intelligent. To have kept the knowledge secret this long marked her as clever and insightful. It
also meant he wouldn’t have to struggle with the difficult human words anymore.

HUNTER’S MATE Bernadette Gardner

26

“Looks like you weren’t the only spy on board,” she said.

“Apparently.”

Victoria sighed and released the tight grip she’d held around her midsection. Her hands

shook and she clamped them around the rails of the nearest medical cot to still them. “In a sad
way, the joke’s on him. We’re still alive, so his mission failed.”
“Well--”

She stiffened and Kash smelled her fear. “Well what?”

“He hasn’t succeeded yet, nor has he failed. He has taken the Katavarri’s life pod. He’s

also disabled and damaged the navigation controls--I assume as a failsafe in case any of us did
manage to survive the poison gas he’d placed in the atmosphere ventilator. Released at the same
time as the sedative gas I planted, it probably killed Sirris and Cherra before the sedative even
had a chance to take effect. He then set a course directly into the chromosphere of the sun.”

Victoria nodded as if the news were no more surprising than a weather report. Her eyes

seemed to lose focus. “You can fix that, can’t you?”

“I’m no engineer. I can attempt to stall the engines, but I don’t believe I can restore

navigation control. That would leave us in a slowly decaying orbit. I believe that might buy us
enough time to repair the long range communications, but it would take weeks for a distress
signal to reach Sha-Shiri. By then, if the Sha’tek didn’t intercept the message first and come back
to finish us off, we’d be long dead.”

Victoria straightened her spine and her chest expanded with a deep, shuddering breath.

Kash feared for a moment she might be preparing for an emotional outburst, but when she spoke,
her voice was flat and even. “How ‘long dead’ exactly? What happens when we hit the
chromosphere?”

“I calculate we have two days before the shields fail and the heat within the ship becomes

unbearable. The hull will remain intact for a while longer, but there is always the danger of a
thermal column or solar flare engulfing the ship. The engines would explode, which would be
the swiftest and most desirable end. I’d much rather perish in an instant than be baked into dust
over the course of several days.”

“Thanks for that visual. You’re basically saying we’re either going to boil like a can of

pork and beans dropped in a campfire, or we’re going to go off like a roman candle on the Fourth
of July?”

Kash shrugged. “If by that you mean we will either die from the intense heat or from a

sudden, violent explosion, then yes, those are our options at the moment.”

“You call those ‘options?’” She stepped towards him now, hands on her hips, her green

eyes blazing. Her sudden defiance intrigued Kash. Anger would carry her much father than fear,
but would either emotion be productive in the end?

“I believe there is one more choice,” he said.

“Which

is?”

“I could vent the atmosphere into space and end our suffering at a time of our own

choosing.”

“Great. That’s a great option. Why wait?” She whirled away from him and strolled out of

the infirmary muttering to herself.

Kash hesitated only a moment before taking off after her. He followed her down the

corridor and through the common room, across the bridge and into the access hallway that led to
the emergency airlock. He’d only shown her the route briefly and it impressed him that she
remembered.

HUNTER’S MATE Bernadette Gardner

27

“What are you doing? Victoria, if you open the airlock, we will both be dragged out into

space.”

She hurled an untranslatable phrase at him over her shoulder before ripping open the

protective cover on the airlock control pad. Kash reached out to stop her, then realized she had
no way of knowing the control codes. She could press buttons at random all day and never
activate the lock. He stood back, arms crossed over his chest, and watched her.

“Come on, let’s go. Why wait to die? I want out of here right now. I don’t care if I have

to float home. I’m not going to sit in this tin can and wait to be cooked to death.” She punched
control buttons at random eliciting error codes from the panel and a series of discordant beeps.

“You don’t strike me as the type to give up so easily.”

“Give up? I’m not giving up. I’m doing something. I’m going to beat the system. We’re

supposed to die thanks to Ashan. If he has his way, we snap, crackle, and pop. Let’s beat him at
his own game and just not be here when the ship explodes.”
“Victoria.”

“Tell me the damn code, Kash. I’m walking out of this airlock. I know, I’ll freeze to

death, right? It’s damn cold in space. That’s okay. Maybe a million years from now some space
probe will find me and thaw me out and I really will get one over on Ashan.”

“You’re being irrational.”

She whirled on him and stuck a forefinger into the fur on his chest. “You haven’t begun

to see irrational yet, bucko. Now give me the damn airlock code.”

“You will not freeze to death.”

“Sure I will--isn’t it something like a million degrees below zero out there?”

“Your blood will boil first due to the lack of atmospheric pressure. Every capillary in

your body will explode and what’s left of you will then freeze. Your body would fall into the sun
in much less than a million years, but assuming some space traveler did find your remains,
thawing you out would not restore you to life.”

She stilled. “Thanks. Thanks for that science lesson, Mr. Wizard. That’s just what I

needed to hear.”
“You’re

welcome.”

She growled, then rushed at him, fists balled. He caught her and held her and rather than

attacking, she sank against him. “I want to go home, Kash. I just want to go home.”

Uncertain of the proper response, Kash slid his hands down her back and locked them

around her waist. He bent his head and laid his still swollen cheek against the soft, dark curls on
her head. “So do I, Victoria. And maybe we can find a way. Come with me and we’ll figure out a
plan to save ourselves. There must be something we can do.”

For a moment the only sound Kash heard was the pounding of his own heart. How could

he indulge in the fantasy that he could save them when Ashan had planned so well for them to
die? How could he revel in the feel of her warm body in his arms when they had only hours to
live?

HUNTER’S MATE Bernadette Gardner

28

Chapter Seven

“You still seem angry,” Kash said. He reached across Victoria’s lap and grabbed one of

the tools he’d arranged on the floor beneath the navigation console on the bridge.

Apparently Victoria had been handing him the tools with attitude so he’d taken to

retrieving them himself, each time managing to brush his hand over her knee or thigh or against
her arm. Each brief contact gave her a jolt of awareness that she tried to ignore.

“Am I wrong to be a little ... annoyed about this whole thing? I didn’t ask to be half Sha-

Shiri, you know, and for what it’s worth, I really only half-believed it up until now anyway.
After all, my father always looked perfectly human to me. He shifted from Sha-Shiri form a long
time before I was born. I look perfectly human and I feel perfectly human. As much as I always
wanted to believe I was part alien, it still comes as a little bit of a shock, you know?”

Kash only nodded. He was elbow deep in a tangle of wires and the muscles in his broad

shoulders were bunched in visible knots of tension. Victoria forced herself to look away and
continued her rant.

“I was minding my own business, taking a walk in the woods in my very own back yard,

mind you, and I get Shanghaied for the Sha’tek breeding program--”
“The

Val’tek breeding program.” Kash looked up from his work long enough to correct

her.

She rolled her eyes. “Whatever. As if that’s not bad enough, considering no one bothered

to ask me if I felt like breeding, thanks to the political crap going on on your planet, now I’m
being hurled into the sun at the speed of light.”

“We are not traveling at the speed of light. If we were, we’d have been dead before we

stepped out of the storage capsule.”
“Whatever.” Victoria rose, dusted off her hands and began pacing the bridge. Each time
she turned in Kash’s direction she had to shield her eyes from the increasingly brilliant light
coming from the forward viewport. Beyond the nose of the ship, the sun boiled and churned like
a ball of lava. The visibility shields made it possible to look at the star for short periods of time,
but each time she did she imagined the temperature around her rising. Sweat beaded on her
forehead and had begun to drip down between her breasts, yet Kash insisted the heat shielding
was still working perfectly. What would happen when it began to fail?

“I apologize for the actions of the Sha’tek and the Val’tek,” Kash said. “My mission is to

preserve your life and I intend to do everything in my power to return you safely to earth.”

Victoria swallowed her pique. She wanted to be mad at him. Since he was the only Sha-

Shiri left on board, who else could she rant at about the continuing mess of her life?

“I’m sorry to lay this on you. I really am. But I’ve had a rough couple of months and this

just caps it all off perfectly. My parents are probably going insane worrying about me already,
not to mention there’s a ten dollar Porterhouse steak rotting on my kitchen counter. On the off
chance I do survive, I’m going to get reamed out for stinking up the house.”

“Again, I apologize. Can you hand me the splicer, please?”

Victoria complied, slapping the device into his outstretched palm.

“I will do all I can to get you home, Victoria. I promise.”

HUNTER’S MATE Bernadette Gardner

29

* * * *

“I’ve done all I can with the navigation system.” Kash made his announcement with a

heavy heart. Ashan-Kona had mangled the controls so badly that even an experienced engineer
would have been unable to repair them with only the limited tools available. He’d begun the
sequence necessary to stall the engines then realized that would also shut down life support
immediately. They would gain nothing by delaying the ship’s descent into the sun.

Victoria looked up at him from where she lay on his bed, arms outstretched, legs bent,

her dark hair streaming around her in sumptuous waves. She looked nothing like a Sha-Shiri
female, yet Kash’s blood warmed at the sight of her.

“Is that your vague way of saying we’re doomed?”

He moved to the edge of the bed and sat down, careful to maintain a few inches between

his thigh and hers. “We could send a tight beam distress signal aimed at Earth’s Space
Administration.”

She laughed. “Yeah. Aside from throwing the whole world into a state of panic, what

would that accomplish? At best it would take NASA a couple of days to get over the shock of
finding out aliens exist ... well, assuming they don’t already know and are keeping it from the
general public ... never mind, let’s not go there. Even if they launched a space shuttle, would it
get here in under two days? It took four just to reach the moon--granted that was a long time ago,
but still, it’s not like we’ve got warp drive or anything. And remember xenophobic? We’d be
quarantined, studied, poked, prodded, and interrogated ….”

“Which is better than dying.”

“I’m not so sure. I’ve never had a DNA test, Kash, but what happens to my parents--my

father--if the authorities find out I’m part Sha-Shiri?”

“You told me your father is human now. Because of the shifter drug, his DNA is virtually

human and so is yours. Cherra-Sha’s test showed only the most subtle differences, though she
believed that mating with a full blooded Sha-Shiri would bring out recessive traits in your
offspring and possibly create a natural shifter who would not need to rely on the drug to change
form. Human medical tests probably would not be able to detect anything unusual about you.”

“Maybe not, but what about you? They’d want to take you apart to see what makes you

tick. Trust me, it’s no fun being someone else’s lab experiment.”

Kash bowed his head in shame at the actions of the Val’tek. Perhaps Victoria was right.

He should have done something to stop the mission long before the Katavarri reached earth.
“I’m not ready to give up, yet. Come with me to engineering. I’m going to keep working on the
navigation system.”

* * * *

“Aside from being an Avan’tek counter agent and a designated breeder, what do you do?

Back on Sha-Shiri, I mean.” Victoria’s anger at Kash and all things extraterrestrial had subsided
after a few more hours of watching him work on the Katavarri’s engines.

She’d begun to wish she knew something about space travel. It all seemed so easy on

television. Why wasn’t there a helpful computer voice to tell them what to do, or a fleet of
friendly space police just waiting to beam stranded travelers to safety? There always seemed to
be a quick fix in the TV science fiction universe. Why did the wondrous reality of space travel
have to suck so much?

“I’m a researcher, much like your father was. I study the animals of other worlds and I

specialize in nocturnal predators.”

HUNTER’S MATE Bernadette Gardner

30

Victoria shifted her body and stretched out next to Kash on the floor so she could look up

into the glowing mass of wires and circuit boards inside the control panel he’d dismantled. She
had a sneaking suspicion he wasn’t really doing much besides disconnecting and reconnecting
the same set of wires over and over again, but for some reason it comforted her to know that he
wasn’t going to give up yet.

“My father always had a fascination for the big cats. Wonder why, ha! What earth

animals have you studied?”

“None so far. This was my first trip to earth. I suspended my studies on Sha-Shiri in order

to become involved with the Avan’tek mission to save you. The Val’tek plan outraged many of
my people and I was honored to be chosen to help.”

Victoria stared at him. “You gave up your career to come all the way to earth to save me

from the Val’tek breeder program without even knowing me?” Her heart fluttered. She’d yet to
meet a human male who’d done anything half as honorable for her.

“The idea of forced breeding is abhorrent to me. I would have done this for anyone on

any planet who had been slated to be used for the Val’tek’s ridiculous scheme. No one should be
forced to mate with an alien species against their will, even if the outcome might promote
peaceful co-existence between races. Of course, considering human xenophobia, it stands to
reason such a plan would only exacerbate human fears at this time.”

Victoria sobered. She understood Kash’s words, but the reality of his beliefs still pinged

against her sensitive ego. He still thought of her as an alien and though he couched his words in a
denouncement of the Val’tek she couldn’t help but wonder if it were actually the thought of
breeding with her that Kash found so abhorrent.

“My parents made me promise never to tell anyone what I was. They said someday it

might be possible, but they couldn’t predict when. For a while, I thought they were playing a
game with me, inventing a story that would make me feel special so it wouldn’t hurt so much
when other kids picked on me.”

Kash looked up from his work. “Your playmates injured you?”

“Picked on. It means teased, made fun of.”

“Why would they do this?”

Victoria gave a bitter laugh at the memory. She’d long ago outgrown the hurt but the

lessons she’d learned had stuck with her, driven home this past spring by her experiences with
Mark. “I was a shy kid, and it took me a long time to learn to talk. My mother always said it was
because they were teaching me English and Sha-Shiri at the same time and bilingual children
sometimes don’t verbalize right away. Some of the neighbor kids thought I was slow and they
laughed at me a lot. I made up for it later, though. I always had good grades and sometimes that
gets you teased also.”

Kash nodded. “Sha-Shiri children will sometimes ‘pick on’ one another, though the

practice is considered normal. It helps to prepare an individual for the rigors of adulthood.”

“And what does a Sha-Shiri child do when his playmates pick on him?”

“Usually he will stalk them and bite them.”

Vitoria laughed. “What I wouldn’t have given to be able to bite a few people when I was

growing up, but among humans biting is considered very rude.”

Kash only raised one brow ridge and continued working. “Even without the benefit of

biting your childhood tormentors, you seem to have grown into a functional adult.”

Victoria covered her eyes and giggled. “Thanks. That’s so sweet of you to say.”

HUNTER’S MATE Bernadette Gardner

31

Kash eyed her with what she’d come to recognize as his sarcastic look. “What do you do,

Victoria? Aside from being a designated Val’tek breeder?”

“Ha. Well...” Should she tell him the whole sordid story or sugar coat it to save herself

the embarrassment? It would be hard enough to tell her parents. Maybe telling a stranger, or a
near stranger would make the words come easier. “I’m unemployed right now. I quit my job as
an advertising executive two months after being named Assistant Vice President at my
company.”
“Explain

‘advertising

executive.’”

“We ... create slogans and images and music designed to sell products, to make

consumers aware of items and believe they want or need them. It’s actually a lot of fun ... a very
creative process, but it’s a cutthroat industry. There’s a lot of competition and you have to fight
to stay on top.”

“And you cannot bite your competitors?”

“No ... well. There’s some backbiting ... sure.”

“I’m

confused.”

“Yeah, me, too. Don’t worry about it.”

Kash looked at her. “If you enjoyed this work, why did you ‘quit?’”

“Ah. That’s ... it had nothing to do with the work. I mean, I guess I was a little burned

out, but a week’s vacation probably would have cured that. I ... what really happened was, I
thought I was in love.”

Next to her, Kash stiffened a bit. He turned his attention back to the wires. “You left to

pursue a mate?”

“No. I left to get away from one. He ... I thought I loved him. I thought he loved me.

We’d been working together for a few years and just hitting it off so well. He dropped hints
about how much he admired me, how stable and smart and strong I was. I thought maybe he was
the one.”

“And he was not?”

“Ha. He asked me out to dinner a couple of weeks ago, and believe me, I agonized over

it. It’s not such a great idea to date your boss, but love is love. You have to follow your heart and
I figured I could handle it. It seemed like a safe relationship. He was everything I thought I
wanted, bright, successful, creative and he thought the same things of me.”

“But you were incompatible?”

“He didn’t want a girlfriend. He wanted a donor. I guess, it’s funny in a way, considering

how valuable my DNA seems to be these days.”
“Explain

donor.”

“An egg donor. His girlfriend--his real girlfriend--was some supermodel who wanted a

baby but didn’t want to ruin her perfect figure. They were looking for an egg donor and a
surrogate mother and Mark wanted to know if I’d be interested. He made it clear it had nothing
to do with my work, and if I said no it would have no impact on my job, but he thought twenty
thousand dollars for one of my eggs would be a nice way to say how much he valued me. I was
... hurt.” Okay crushed, she thought. Devastated. Demoralized.

Kash had stopped working again and was looking at her. His golden eyes held sympathy

and something more Victoria couldn’t identify. She couldn’t hold his gaze.

“He begged me not to quit. I think he was afraid I might bring some sort of harassment

charges against him. I know he wouldn’t hold my refusal against me, but I just couldn’t deal with
the humiliation, thinking he wanted me and finding out I was just a commodity to him.”

HUNTER’S MATE Bernadette Gardner

32

“You should have bitten him.”

She laughed again and the weight that had settled over her heart all those weeks ago

seemed to lift a little bit. “Yeah, thinking back, maybe I should have.”

A spark erupted from the control panel and Kash rolled out of the way. Victoria jumped.

“There! I think I’ve managed to--”

Before he finished his sentence the Katavarri’s engines rumbled and the deck pitched

beneath them. Together they tumbled across the floor of engineering and Kash landed squarely
on top of Victoria.

“What the hell was that?” Trapped beneath his muscular torso, she only managed to

squeak the words out. When one of his thighs slid between hers, parting her legs just enough to
allow his pelvis to settle against hers, she gasped.

“That was the pitch stabilizer shutting down along with the main engine. Don’t worry,

auxiliary pitch control will activate in a moment.” As if cued by his explanation, the deck bucked
again.

Kash’s body came down hard on Victoria’s, knocking the wind out of her before they

rolled back toward the navigation console.

This time she ended up straddling him with the bulge of his loincloth fitting snugly

against her mound.

“Are you injured?” he asked, raising his arms to steady her.

She groaned. “Just a little.” She braced her hands against the velvety skin of his chest and

pushed herself up. His hands slid down her arms and then he curled his long fingers around her
hips.

“Have you broken any bones?”

She thought of the long, hard one that rested between her thighs. “Not yet, but I wouldn’t

mind trying.” God, he was big--or was that merely part of his ‘alien sex slave’ uniform? She
arched her back. “Ow! Oh, I think I’m going to need a chiropractor.”

He wrapped his arms around her waist and righted her, then helped her to slide off his lap

onto the floor. “I’m not familiar with that word.”

“A chiropractor is a back doctor, someone who specializes in misalignment of the spine.”

Victoria stretched and massaged the pressure points of her lower back. “Don’t worry. I’ll call
one as soon as I get back to earth.”

Kash looked away. “If you get back.”

“Thank you, Mr. Sunshine. Didn’t you just manage to shut down the engines?”

“I did and without shutting off life support.”

“Well, that’s something. How long do we have now?”

“At our current velocity, another two days at most.”

Victoria sat up straight and squared her shoulders. She gave Kash a long, appraising look.

“In that case, what have you got to drink on this boat, Captain? I think we need to get drunk.”

HUNTER’S MATE Bernadette Gardner

33

Chapter Eight

“Do you think perhaps we’re taking too fatalistic an approach to the situation?” Kash

asked in flawless English. After three flagons of Sha-Shiri mountain ale, he could no longer form
words in his native language.

Victoria lay on his bed on her belly with her head hanging over the side. A half empty

flagon of ale dangled from her hand.

“A fatalishtic approach to invet...invet...inevitable death? No. Not at all.”

“On Sha-Shiri, death is not considered something to fear.”

“I don’t dear--I don’t feth ... I don’t fear death. With another falgon--flagon of ale, I

wouldn’t even fear a puppet or a clown for that matter.”

“What are these words?”

“Puppet? Puppets are terrifying fake people used to torment small children. I’m fuppet –

pupfet ... puppet phobic. And clowns--don’t get me started on the horror of clowns.”

“I feel like we should be doing something besides drinking ale.”

“We should. We should be confessing our sins and divulging our deepest, darkest secrets

to each other.”

“Is this a human custom?”

“It is.” Victoria sat up and Kash craned his neck to watch her. She wrapped her lips

around the narrow mouth of the ale flagon and took a long draught. Kash’s gaze went to the long,
pale column of her throat as she swallowed and he imagined licking the smooth skin there. If he
pressed his lips to the pulse point below her jaw would he taste her heart beat? If he pressed his
lips to hers would he taste ale and desire?

She swallowed and leveled a serious gaze at him. “You go first.”

“Go

where?”

“Confess your sins.”

“Sha-Shiri do not believe in sin. I have done things I regret, but I have never committed

an act for which I feel I require divine forgiveness.”

“Hokay. Then what are your regrets?”

“I regret taking on this mission.”

She blinked. “Oh.”

“There were others with greater experience who should have been chosen. The position

was offered to me because I was young and virile and best suited for breeding among the
volunteers. I regret I could not thwart Ashan and I regret that I’d begun to trust him and even
enjoy his company to a degree. I should have seen through his subterfuge.”

“No one else did. Apparently he was a pretty good counter agent, too. And you saved me

from breeding. That’s something to be proud of.” Victoria drank again and Kash indulged in
dangerous thoughts. “Now tell me a deep, dark secret.”

He shifted position to face her. She loomed above him on the bed, a flush of color

highlighting her cheeks and disappearing into the collar of her thin clothing. Her nipples peaked
beneath the fabric, drawing his feral gaze. With the ale coursing through his blood, he felt bold
enough to confess.

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34

“For a moment--just one--I wish I was Val’tek. I would stretch you beneath me, tear your

covering off, and bring you to surrender.”

* * * *

Victoria’s heart lodged in her throat at Kash’s words. His voice had grown deeper and

fuller like it had been when he’d whispered false threats to her in the confines of the holding cell
her first day aboard. She’d thought then, for the briefest moment, that he would do just that--
claim her and force her to surrender to him--and in spite of her fear, she’d felt just a quiver of
anticipation.

She dropped her gaze and bit her lower lip. Her body trembled and her clit tingled. “You

would?”

“I would. I can smell your heat. I can practically taste your arousal. You are ripe for

mating and my body cannot ignore the natural instinct to make use of a willing female.” They
weren’t the most romantic words she’d ever heard, but good lord they made her hot. This wasn’t
about romance anyway, it was about dying and never having the chance to feel anything this
intense ever again.

“Oh, God! If I wasn’t so drunk right now, I’d be all over you. I mean hell, we’re going to

die anyway.”

Kash leapt onto the bed with the speed and agility Victoria would have expected of a

feline race. She reared back, but only slightly--afraid to admit how much the prospect of sex with
Kash excited her.

He took her hand in his, raised her fingers to his mouth and bit her thumb.

“Ow! What’d you do that for?” She shook the injured digit and jammed it in her mouth to

suck away the single drop of bright red blood that had formed.

“Forgive me. I know biting is considered rude, but the pain will dissipate the effects of

the ale and cure your intoxication.”

Victoria stared at her throbbing thumb. The discomfort seemed to clear the ale-induced

fog that had wrapped itself around her brain and within minutes she felt perfectly normal.
“That’s a neat trick. I’m not drunk anymore.”

“The adrenaline surge neutralizes the effects of inebriation.”

“Oh.

I’m not drunk anymore. Damn. Who wants to die sober?”

She took another sip of ale and the liquid, which had become a soothing balm over the course of
several hours, burned its way down her throat, igniting a line of fire to her belly. She coughed.
“Ach--”

“It’s best not to begin drinking again so soon.”

“Now you tell me.” She looked up, took two deep breaths and nodded. “Go ahead. Fuck

me.”

He growled. “I am pledged to honor the Avan’tek directive and preserve your honor.”

“So honor me by making love to me. I want you, Kash. We’re going to die--the Avan’tek

will never know.”

Kash hovered close and the heat of his body made Victoria light headed. She wanted that

heat all around her and inside her. She needed desperately to give herself to him and to feel alive
for these last few hours before they fell into the sun. “I’m hot. I’m ripe, Kash. Use me.”

A battle raged within him, she could tell. He wanted her, wanted to know what it would

feel like to be with her, but his beliefs held him back. Victoria pulled off her shirt and threw her
arms around his neck. She pulled him to her, baring her throat to his mouth. “Taste me. Take off
this harness and give me your cock.”

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35

He shook his head, even as a low moan vibrated his chest.

“You want me. Don’t make me beg for it.”

With a growl he lowered his lips to her skin and one swipe of his hot tongue set Victoria

to trembling. She pressed herself up against him, rubbing her taut nipples over his chest, feeling
the contrast of his soft skin and the rough, jewel encrusted leather of the harness.

Kash’s chest rumbled with a sound that was half purr, half growl. His hands came around

her and he traced lines of sensation down her back. Victoria rose up on her knees and spread her
thighs, settled herself on his lap, and wrapped her legs around his waist. When she threw her
head back, he licked the salty drops of sweat that trickled down between her breasts and slipped
his hands into the waistband of her pants.

Lost in his intimate touch, Victoria shuddered and moaned. She reared up, forcing his

fingers deeper into her panties until they brushed against the hardened nub of her clitoris. “Yes--
feel that? That’s what you want. Touch me ... please!”

With a ragged sigh, Kash surged forward and pushed Victoria onto her back. He dragged

her pants down her thighs, the tips of his claws just grazing her sensitive skin. Her flesh rippled
and the pungent, musky scent of her own arousal reached her.

“Is this how humans mate?” he asked when she kicked her pants aside and spread her

legs. He pressed a palm to her mound, petting her dark curls and massaging her clit with his
thumb.

Victoria gasped and writhed. “This is a good start....”

“There’s no chase? No ritual surrender?”

“Is that what you want? You want to hunt me?” Victoria shivered. She wasn’t sure her

legs would be able to carry her, but if Kash wanted to chase her and claim her, she’d run for him.

“That is the Sha-Shiri tradition. The female eludes the male for as long as she can. Once I

capture you, you will give me your body, like this ... you will submit to my will.”

Victoria smiled. “You want to tame me?” She slid from Kash’s grasp and headed for the

door, reveling in her nakedness. Her body ached for release and her heart pounded in anticipation
of the chase.

“I’m not sure I could tame you, Victoria ….”

“Well, why don’t you come give it a try?” She held his gaze for an instant, then she ran.

* * * *

Kash stalked his prey through the corridors of the Katavarri, his sex arching high against

the tight confines of the codpiece he wore.

Once again he indulged in the forbidden fantasy of watching Victoria slide her body

down over the pulsing shaft of his sex.

The chase had ignited his mating instincts to full throttle. His pledge to the Avan’tek

cause was little more than a passing annoyance in the face of his need for release. When he
found her, he’d teach her every aspect of Sha-Shiri mating rituals. He’d leave her body
quivering, full, and dripping with his seed.

Her laughter echoed through the corridors, teasing and taunting him. He followed the

sound, his senses heightened by the sexual fever that boiled his blood. He tasted her on the air.
When he slowed his movements and stilled his ragged breathing, he heard her--the nearly
soundless falls of her naked feet on the deck covering. He turned and she appeared at the
juncture of the next corridor.

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36

Sweet surprise registered on her face for an instant before she bolted away. She’d

underestimated his ability to track her by scent. “Catch me if you can,” she sang before she
disappeared. Kash ran after her.

* * * *

Victoria skipped through the corridors with Kash only moments behind her. Eager to be

caught, she headed for the observation room where he’d taken her on that first tour of the ship.

There, she’d let him catch her. She was in complete control, but nevertheless, the thrill of

the chase had her blood pounding and her body shaking with anticipation. She’d never felt like
this before--so free and so powerful. The thought of surrendering to Kash, body and soul, thrilled
her like nothing had before.

She ran into the observation room and stopped in her tracks, her bare feet skidding across

the floor. All of the Katavarri’s thick sun shields were in place, blocking most of the brilliant
glow. The huge fireball beyond the wide portal looked like a swirling sphere of dark orange lava.
It filled the view port and not even a sliver of black was visible on either side. It looked as if they
were already inside the star.

Solar flares lashed off the roiling surface like tongues of sentient flame. Just one lick and

the ship would burn like crepe paper lit with a match. Death might be hours or only moments
away.

Awed and frightened, Victoria knelt on the floor. She closed her eyes and let her head

drop back, basking in the imagined warmth. Ashes to ashes, she thought. There’s no better way
to go.

She let out a satisfied purr when Kash’s hand closed over her bare shoulder.

“I surrender,” she said. “Take me.”

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37

Chapter Nine

Kash moved to face Victoria, his powerful shoulders momentarily blocking out the

intoxicating light. Victoria’s body responded to the sight of his broad silhouette, her own
muscles clenching in anticipation, her nerve endings bracing for the onslaught of sensation.

She allowed him to lower her body to the floor where, surprisingly, the deck’s carpet-like

covering cushioned her as well as any mattress. He loomed above her, his tawny skin golden in
the muted glow.

Victoria spread her legs, giving Kash access to kneel between them. Need pulsed warm

and wet from her pussy as he reached down to remove his leather harness. The thick straps fell
away and he cast his jewel-studded belt aside. The thin loincloth fluttered down, revealing a cock
so long and thick that Victoria gasped. Involuntarily, she reached for him and he leaned forward,
allowing her to stroke the velvet rod of flesh.

Shaped like that of a human male, though more finely made, his sex pulsed at her touch.

The head, a darker shade of gold than the shaft, seemed to swell when Victoria ran her trembling
fingers over it. “Let me taste you,” she whispered.

Kash seemed surprised but intrigued by her demand. He rose up on his knees and she

curled her body toward him. With her eyes cast upward to gauge his response, she guided the tip
of his cock to her lips and licked the head.

Velvet smooth and hot against her tongue, the wide slit opened under her attention and

Victoria tasted Kash’s seed. She sucked the few drops of salty-sweet precome and worked her
mouth down the shaft.

Above her he growled or groaned--the sound defied description. His thigh muscles

trembled when she began to suckle him. She drew him in deep, teasing with her tongue against
the swollen glands and rigid shaft. Instinct seemed to guide his hands to the back of her head and
he pushed her forward, urging her to swallow him whole. When she’d worked him up to the
point that a human male would have come, he pushed her shoulders back until she reluctantly
released him.

“Is it ... customary for the human male to spill his seed ... into the female’s mouth?” His

voice was rough and breathless.

Victoria gave his cock a final, languid brush with her tongue and sat back, grinning. “Not

customary. It’s a special treat. Would you like that?”

He growled again, but rather than guiding her back to his cock, he placed his hands on

her breasts and gently settled her back to the floor.

“I must taste you now.”

“Ah....” Victoria sighed and presented herself to him.

He lowered his head and flicked his tongue against her clit. Her body arched. “Oh, please

... please make me come.”

He leveled a feral gaze at her and went to work. His long fingers spread her, delved

inside her one at a time, testing and exploring. Victoria moaned. The pressure against her inner
walls felt so good, but she needed more. She needed all of him inside her.

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38

When he bent to suck her clit against the rough surface of his tongue, she screamed and

bucked her hips. “Do it, Kash, fuck me, please!”

He rose up and stretched his body against her. She squirmed beneath him, eager to feel

the hard, wet heat of his cock between her legs.

“Can you take me?” he asked, concern coloring his husky voice while he positioned his

cock where his fingers had been.

She nodded. “I’m ready. Please....”

He entered her slow and steady, a timed invasion rather than a haphazard plundering of

her body. Exquisite.

Victoria sucked in a breath as Kash’s magnificent cock spread her, stretching her to the

limit. Had she been hasty to invite him in so quickly? What if he was too big for her?

He eased over her, nudging her hips with his, urging her with soft purrs and whispers to

open farther for him. She did, though her body protested. Pain and pleasure blurred until he
seated himself to the hilt and his heavy balls rested against her ass.
“Oh,

my....”

He bent his head and licked her throat and then her nipples. Victoria shuddered as a wave

of pleasure cascaded down her spine, igniting an orgasm that left her panting and sobbing.

“This is your surrender,” Kash breathed in her ear. “The first of many....” He raked his

hands, claws retracted, down her hips to steady her. His first thrust was slow, careful, and when
she didn’t protest, he quickened his pace, plunging deep then retreating with a measured rhythm
that perfectly matched the explosions of need arcing inside her.

“I never imagined this before I met you...,” he panted. “I could not fathom mating with a

human--”

“Oh ... I’ve imagined....” Victoria gasped at each thrust. She felt him in her womb and her

body relaxed by degrees, letting go of the desperate pulsing of her first orgasm, letting go of the
apprehension that his cock would be too big. He filled her perfectly, deeply, like he’d been made
to fit inside her. “I dreamed I’d be ... taken one day ... that someone like you would come and
claim me like this--”

“Victoria.” Kash rose up and looked into her eyes. Her heart clenched as tight as her

pussy and for a moment she swore she stopped breathing. “I wish ... I wish....”

“Don’t. Don’t worry about a future we don’t have.” She put her hands on his chest.

Beneath her fingers his heart raced and within her his cock seemed to grow longer, thicker.

“Be still now....” He buried his face in her neck and his body went rigid. Victoria held,

suspended in the moment. With her legs wrapped around him, poised on the edge of another
orgasm, she tensed for his and welcomed the hot, liquid rush of his seed. In his wake, she came
with his name on her lips.

* * * *

Trembling with exertion, his skin on fire, Kash called Victoria’s name as he exploded

inside her.

Above him now, she arched her sinuous back and jutted her full breasts into his hands.

With a feral growl she’d learned from him, she folded her sweat-slick body down across

his heaving chest and lay her ear over his heart.

“Good Lord, you feel even bigger when I’m on top!” she said. His body convulsed,

pulsing what had to the be the last drop of his seed into her body.

“I’m spent,” he said with a groan. “I’m certain I have nothing left. My balls are dry.”

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39

She laughed. “For now. I’m sure you’ll recover.” She slithered off him and lay on her

back next to him, arms outstretched, one knee bent. Kash roused himself and rose on one elbow
to look down at her.

“You seem certain of this.”

“I am. I give you an hour, tops, and I’ll be able to get your plumbing working again. You

can count on that.” The mischief in her green eyes intrigued him. It was as if she’d forgotten
their impending deaths. She was only light and love and laughter now and it made him ache for
more time...though he knew even if they had forever, it wouldn’t be enough.

He hooked his fingers over her hip and dragged her towards him. “I may have no seed

left, but I can lick you until you cry for mercy. Shall I begin here?” He lapped at her throat,
tasting her unique essence and his mixed now with the mating pheromones that permeated the
sultry air of the observation room.

Mating. The word echoed in his brain and slowed his sensual attack. She was in estrus,

primed for conception, and he’d filled her again and again over the past few hours with viable
Sha-Shiri sperm.

Within her now might lie the very offspring the Val’tek had sought to create and the

Sha’tek had plotted to destroy. His offspring--now doomed to death just as they were.

“Kash, what’s wrong?” Victoria’s round eyes creased at the corners and she raised her

hands to smooth the thick mane that hung to his shoulders.

“We will stay this way for the rest of our lives ... joined together. In this moment we are

mated forever.”

Her breath escaped in a soft whoosh followed by a sound that was half chuckle, half sob.

“Forever....” She brought his head to her breasts and held him, her body heaving beneath his in
an effort to calm herself. Kash wrapped his arms around her waist and hugged her as tightly as
he dared.

“How much longer is forever, Kash?”

“Not long enough. We have four hours perhaps before the shields give way. I think it

would be wise to vent the atmosphere. Suffocation will be the quickest and least painful death.
We don’t want to wait until the heat becomes unbearable. I’m sorry, Victoria. I truly am sorry.”

She placed a finger against his lips. “Don’t be. Just love me again, one more time before

we run out of forever.”

HUNTER’S MATE Bernadette Gardner

40

Chapter Ten

“Who is it?” Victoria woke in a full blown panic, dizzy and disoriented. Had the phone

rung? Had someone knocked on her apartment door? Good God, was she late for work?

She pushed herself up to a sitting position and shielded her eyes against the

overwhelming yellow-orange glow coming from behind her. What light on earth could be that
bright?

It took her a moment to process. She must have slept for hours--too many hours. Her

entire body was slick with sweat, and the heat seemed to steal the air from her lungs. She’d
woken up alone. In hell.
“Kash!”

He was gone. She scrambled to her feet and lurched toward the door of the observation

room just as the deck tilted beneath her feet.

She fell backward and hit the floor, began rolling toward the observation port. Around

her the Katavarri shuddered. A metallic clank echoed through the bulkheads and Victoria felt the
vibrations come up through the floor and rattle her spine. Was the gravitational force of the sun
starting to buckle the hull? Would they be crushed even before the solar radiation melted their
flesh and baked their bones? Right about now, suffocation did seem like a pleasant alternative.

Victoria forced herself up to her knees. She refused to allow herself to look over her

shoulder at the boiling surface of the sun. Instead she closed her eyes and bowed her head.

Mom and Dad, wherever you are, know that I love you and I’m sorry I never got the

chance to say goodbye. I miss you, but I’ll always be with you.

Before Victoria could begin her final prayers in earnest, the door of the observation room

slid open. Her eyes flew open and she prepared to throw herself into Kash’s arms, but the black-
furred Sha-Shiri that shouldered through the narrow door was not her Avan’tek savior. He bared
sharp teeth at her and hissed in Sha-Shiri. “There you are! Come with me, human!”

She backed away, stumbling on legs made weak by hours of lovemaking as well as

dehydration from the heat and the ale. There was no place to run or hide in the observation room,
though, and each step toward the view port only intensified the heat. If she touched the glass,
she’d fry.

“It’s too late for you to kill me!” Victoria launched herself at the intruder, clawing and

biting. “I’m already dead. You won. You destroyed the hybrid female, now you can burn in
hell!”

Victoria went down fighting, her head pounding like a jackhammer and her lungs

straining for oxygen in the motionless air. The black Sha-shiri closed his strong arms around her.
He clamped one hand over her mouth and nose and in the blink of an eye, a cool, calming scent
rushed into her lungs. Her body seemed to melt into a warm, comforting haze as the Sha-Shiri
lifted her in his arms. Unable to struggle, and unsure why she wanted to, Victoria allowed herself
to descend into darkness.

* * * *

“Such a fragile looking creature to have sparked so much controversy back home....”

“You’d think being part Sha-Shiri she wouldn’t be as ugly as the average human.”

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41

“Use caution, she speaks Sha-shiri, you know.” A familiar voice interrupted the

disparaging conversation that echoed in Victoria’s ears.

She shifted and stretched, luxuriating for a moment in the feel of cool sheets sliding over

her body. A warm hand pressed against her forehead and she opened her eyes to a pair of tawny
tiger eyes.
“Kash!”

“Victoria.” He lowered his head to rest on her chest and stroked her hair. “When I

couldn’t wake you I went to the bridge to begin venting the atmosphere. I was just in time to see
the Mura-jir docking with us.”
“The

Mura...” Victoria peered over Kash’s shoulder, but the details of her surroundings

blurred. She raised one shaky hand to touch his arm.

“An Avan’tek vessel came to rescue us. They intercepted Ashan’s transmission. Having

already learned of his treachery, they sent the Mura-jir to retrieve us both.”

Victoria blinked. Her head still felt large and strangely empty. The world around her

looked gray and shadowy, all except for Kash’s golden eyes. Behind him, the stark silhouette of
the black-pelted Sha-Shiri was the first thing to come into focus. He moved forward and Victoria
tensed. Kash turned to look over his shoulder.

“Don’t be afraid. This is Taimott. He is one of the leaders of the Avan’tek and my closest

friend.”

Taimott drew closer, his expression curious and guarded at the same time. Had he been

the one who thought humans so ugly? Victoria wished she could say the same about him, but like
Kash, he was sleek and well-formed, a beautiful example of Sha-Shiri genetics.

Self-conscious under his scrutiny, Victoria gathered the cool sheet that covered her and

forced herself to meet his silvery gaze. “I guess I owe you an apology, Captain. The last thing I
remember was attempting to bite you.”

“Unnecessary. You didn’t injure me.” Taimott waved off her apology. “I am grateful that

we arrived in time. Another hour and you both would have been dead. As it is, we could not save
the Katavarri. Her shields had ruptured and her engines could not be restarted thanks to
Kash’s...expert tinkering.”

Kash managed a contrite look, though Taimott chuckled.

“I did have some help destroying the Katavarri’s engines, you know. Ashan did most of

the work well before I came along and started pulling on the wires.”

Taimott snorted and Victoria found herself grinning at the captain. Despite her initial

fear, she liked him. He’d saved their lives, and he was close enough friends with Kash to tease
him. He’d given them a future they could never have hoped for.
A

future.

She caught Kash’s gaze. “My god! We’re alive. We’re actually alive!”

He nodded and placed a possessive hand on her sheet-covered thigh. “Yes. We’re alive,

but we’re not yet out of danger.”

* * * *

An hour later Kash sat next to Victoria at the head of the Mura-jir’s conference table.

Dressed again in her discarded shirt and a female Sha-Shiri jeweled belt and skirt that revealed
her long legs from luscious thigh to ankle, Victoria looked confident and supremely sexual. Kash
could barely take his eyes off her long enough to concentrate on Taimott’s words.

In addition to the Mura-jir’s captain, the rest of the crew had gathered for the briefing, as

well.

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42

Zhora, the medical officer, M’tash, the pilot and engineer, along with Zhora’s mate,

Torvol, a tactical specialist, all sat around the wide table with the remains of an impromptu meal
in front of them. Kash noted they all took turns glancing at Victoria, none of them ever having
met or spoken with a human before.

She smiled at them and Kash’s heart swelled with pride once again at her ability to

overcome her race’s natural fear of the unknown. No wonder K’vshtin, her father, had been
drawn to a human female enough to forsake Sha-Shiri form and live out his life on earth.

“We believe the Sha’tek have monitored the Katavarri’s final orbit, and we’re confident

they believe the ship has fallen into the star’s ionosphere with both of you aboard.” Taimott
steepled his fingers in front of him and leaned back in his chair.

“That’s good, right?” Victoria asked. “You don’t look terribly pleased about it.”

Taimott chuckled. “It is good, but the Sha’tek are not stupid. They are paranoid. They

will be cautious and are always expecting treachery. Kash will need to go into hiding when he
returns to Sha-Shiri. He may need to change his name and appearance. If the Sha’tek find out he
survived, they will assume you did as well and mount another mission to destroy you.”

Victoria caught Kash’s concerned glance. “How long would you have to hide?”

He shrugged. It didn’t matter to him. He’d saved Victoria. His own freedom was fair

payment for her safety.

“I’ll come with you. We’ll hide together.”

Every head in the conference room turned in her direction. Zhora coughed and reached

for a flagon of water to calm her surprise.

“What?” Victoria’s eyes fell and her shoulders sagged. “That’s stupid, I know. I’m sorry.

How could you possibly hide me? I’d be a little conspicuous, wouldn’t I?”

“The shifter drug,” Zhora murmured. “It could be adapted to change your appearance to

that of a Sha-Shiri.”

Now five startled glances bounced to the healer. Her blue eyes widened. “It’s a theory ...

granted a far-fetched one, but it’s still an option.”

“I think it would be best if Victoria was returned to earth where we know she will be safe

among her own people. We can remotely fly the Mura-jir’s lifeboat to the surface to drop her off
and we can work out Kash’s new identity during our flight home.” Taimott’s voice was calm but
firm, leaving little room for argument. “It was never our intention to rip you from your home
forever, Victoria. I regret that the Sha’tek made you believe you would be a Sha-Shiri prisoner
forever.”

“I don’t believe that. I do want to go home, but ... I don’t want to leave....” Her voice

trailed off and she shifted her gaze back to Kash. He made no comment but moved his hand to
rest on her thigh beneath the table.

Zhora sat forward, her gaze bouncing between the two. “Have you ... mated with

Victoria, Kash?”

He rose so quickly that Victoria jumped. “Of course not. I would not do such a thing. It

would be unethical.” He sensed rather than saw Victoria’s shocked reaction to his lie and shame
washed over him. How could he admit he’d done something he’d always believed was wrong?
How could he expose Victoria to the speculation of the crew? They would surely wonder if he’d
taken advantage of his role posing at as a Val’tek, and they would pity her.

At a loss, he stormed out of the room and propelled himself down the Mura-jir’s

unfamiliar corridors. He had no idea where he was going, only that he needed time away from

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43

his own tumultuous feelings to think clearly about how he would fare without Victoria by his
side.

How could he harbor thoughts of keeping her as his mate, especially when their

continued survival depended on keeping their existence secret from the Sha’tek and the Val’tek,
as well?

On Sha-Shiri, even disguised as a native, eventually Victoria’s identity might be

revealed. If she bore a partially human offspring, if he’d already impregnated her....

“What the hell was that about?” Victoria’s round human claws dug into his shoulder and

despite her smaller size, she spun him to face her. “Unethical?”

“Victoria--” He covered her lips with his finger to quiet her. “The others need not know

what happened privately....”

“Don’t you think they have a clue? Taimott found me in the observation room, naked.

Any human would put two and two together.” She glared at him. “Kash ... you’ve been inside
me. Are you embarrassed to admit that to your friends?”

He stepped close, drawing her trembling body against him. “I would take you as my mate

in an instant, but knowing what we’ve done, the others might insist that you come to Sha-Shiri
where a hybrid offspring would have a better chance of survival. Your life would be in danger
there every day and I could not live with that.”

“So I should stay on earth without you? What if--” Her hand went to her belly in a

protective gesture that arrowed to Kash’s heart. “What if I’m already pregnant? We were
supposed to be dead by now, not worrying about where to set up housekeeping. I just want to be
with you. I’m not ready to say goodbye forever.”

“There may be no other choice. You will be safer on earth.”

“And what if I have your baby ... alone on earth?”

“So

you

have mated.” Zhora appeared in the corridor behind Victoria at that moment. She

crossed her arms over her chest and leaned against the nearest bulkhead. “I knew it.”

“Zhora, it is not your concern,” Kash said.

“I’m the medical officer. It is my concern. If Victoria is pregnant, we should know about

it. She’ll need to make decisions about how to proceed.”

Victoria whirled around. “How to proceed! What decisions?”

Zhora righted herself and her pointed ears twitched. “As Kash said--and yes, I was

eavesdropping, I apologize--but the two of you were speaking loudly enough that I didn’t need to
strain my ears. As Kash said, you will be safer on earth, but the best place for a Sha-Shiri child to
grow up would be among his own kind. Both the Val’tek and the Sha’tek would be galvanized if
news of such a birth reached them. Both groups would seek out the child for breeding or
destruction.” Zhora paused and though her expression was sympathetic, Victoria seemed
shocked by her words.

“Am I right in assuming, Victoria, that your child would not fare much better on Earth

where xenophobia would cause a non-human child to be considered a monster? Would you raise
your baby in seclusion, hiding from your people for the rest of your life?”

Kash swallowed hard. His throat had never felt so dry or his chest so hollow. What had

they done? In celebrating what they believed would be the last hours of their lives, they might
have doomed their child to a life of exile.

Victoria swayed and he caught her. She covered her face with her hands. “What am I

supposed to do, Kash? How did this get so complicated?”

HUNTER’S MATE Bernadette Gardner

44

Zhora stepped up and took Victoria’s hand in hers. “First, let’s try to determine if you

have conceived. Then we can talk more about options.”

HUNTER’S MATE Bernadette Gardner

45

Chapter Eleven

Victoria lay on one of Zhora’s medical cots, vainly trying to meditate herself into a state

of higher consciousness while the Mura-jir’s medic studied various test results at a nearby
computer monitor.

“Tell me, Victoria, did your father take the shifter drug before or after your conception?”

Zhora asked without looking up from her work.

“During, I think.”

That drew the Sha-Shiri’s full attention. “During?”

“I don’t know all the details, obviously, but my mother’s told me that my father took

more than one dose of the drug. The first time, he was too physically weak from a bullet wound
to hold human form for very long. Later, he took the drug again, when he’d recovered
completely from his injury. She discovered she was pregnant only a few weeks later.”

After a few more moments of study, Zhora put her instruments aside and tapped Victoria

on the shoulder. “You may sit up now.”

Victoria obeyed. Despite the flock of butterflies in her stomach, Zhora’s gentle touch

soothed her somewhat. The look in the medic’s eyes was understanding and compassionate.
“Well?”

Zhora sighed. “I’m afraid my instruments can’t tell me much about human physiology. It

may be too soon, but all the tests I’ve run are inconclusive.”

Victoria didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. She blew out a breath and Zhora continued.

“If you were full Sha-Shiri, I could tell almost at the moment of conception. While you seem to
be in a receptive mating state, I’m not familiar enough with human blood chemistry to be able to
pick out the proper hormones that might indicate conception. Perhaps in a day or two. Are there
any early signs humans use to determine pregnancy?”

“A few, but they usually don’t appear for several weeks.” Victoria listed the signs she

knew of for Zhora ending with queasiness and food cravings. In all honesty, she was a bit
nauseas, but she was certain that had more to do with her mental state than her physical one.

“You will tell me if you experience any of these symptoms?”

“I

will.”

“In the meantime, I’d like to you give you something.”

Victoria wrung her hands and tried to still her rampant thoughts while Zhora rummaged

in a medical supply cabinet. When she returned to the cot, the Sha-Shiri dropped a red, jewel-like
tablet into Victoria’s palm. “Do you know what this is?”

Victoria’s mouth went dry. She hoped she was wrong. “It’s not some kind of morning

after pill, is it?”

Zhora tilted her head. “Morning after what?”

“A drug to prevent conception or reverse it in the early stages. It’s used in emergency

situations among humans.”

“No.” Zhora shook her head and closed her fingers over Victoria’s. “It would be wrong

for me to suggest such a thing to you. That would be your decision alone. This is the shifter
drug.”

HUNTER’S MATE Bernadette Gardner

46

Victoria stared at the crimson pill. It looked like a multifaceted ruby lying in Zhora’s

palm.

“I believe if you took this, you could restructure your DNA to that of a full blooded Sha-

Shiri.”

Victoria’s heart stuttered. “Why would I...?”

“If you wish to join Kash in exile, you could not do so as a human.”

“What about--” Victoria’s gaze dropped to her belly. Panic rose in her chest.

“I believe the drug would also restructure the DNA of a developing fetus to match your

own, so your child would be Sha-Shiri if you were. It is merely an option for you to consider.
I’m concerned that should we encounter any Val’tek or Sha’tek before we are able to return you
to earth, you might be in danger in your human form. The drug would allow you to shift
temporarily. A second dose would give you the option to change back if taken within a day of
the first.”

“Thanks.” Victoria closed her sweaty fingers over the pill. “I feel so much safer now.”

“Victoria, please understand. My people bear no ill will toward humans. We have no

desire to subjugate or destroy your race, or force it to conform to our ways. It would pain me to
see you injured or captured by either of the radical Sha-Shiri factions.”

“Thank you, Zhora. I do appreciate your help.”

“I’ll show you to quarters where you can rest and think about what you’d like to do, but

you should also be prepared for the fact that Taimott may not give you a choice. He believes you
should be returned to earth and left alone, no matter what.”

* * * *

Taimott paced in front of Kash on the Mura-jir’s bridge, his brow ridges canted in a

stern, worried expression. “You could face charges in an Avan’tek court for mating with a
human.”

“We believed we were about to die.” No matter how hard Kash tried, he could no longer

muster the requisite shame for his actions. He had no regrets anymore about Victoria. In fact,
even now, part of his mind dwelled with her, reliving their stolen moments together and foolishly
building a fantasy future in his mind for them to share.

“You were never the type to make excuses, Kash, why now?”

“It is not an excuse. It’s a reason. Our lives were ending and we chose to celebrate rather

than await our deaths. You would have done the same.”

“With a Sha-Shiri female, most assuredly, but--”

Kash growled. “It no longer matters to me that Victoria is human or hybrid. If she carries

my child I want her as my mate.”

“And if she does not?”

Kash hadn’t considered that possibility. His fertile mind had already provided a passel of

healthy offspring for he and Victoria to raise in an idyllic setting somewhere in the universe
where no one would ever disturb their happiness.

Before Kash could respond, Taimott continued. “Will you subject her to a life in exile,

hiding from the Val’tek who want to force her to breed for them, and from the Sha’tek who
merely want to see her dead to assuage their irrational fears?”

“I will do whatever is necessary to keep her safe. Anything.”

“Then I suggest you tell her goodbye. The only place she will be safe is on her own world

and I intend to return her to earth as soon as we are within range for the lifeboat to launch.”

HUNTER’S MATE Bernadette Gardner

47

“The Val’tek found her once on earth. What makes you think they won’t do it again?”

Kash hated challenging Taimott. He respected his friend’s leadership, but in this instance, even
though logic dictated the captain of the Mura-jir was right, Kash couldn’t agree. He would never
rest not knowing if Victoria was completely safe.

“We have collected evidence to prove her death and yours. Long range scans of the

Katavarri being crushed by the star’s gravity should appease the Sha’Tek. Ashan’s final
transmission will incite the Val’tek to war, I’m certain, and that should occupy both factions for
quite some time. When the fighting on Sha-Shiri is done, no one will be interested in sifting
through seven billion human DNA codes to find one that might contain some Sha-Shiri
characteristics. I’m sorry, Kash, but I see no alternative.”

* * * *

Victoria stifled a grin at the anxious expression on Kash’s face when he appeared at the

doorway of the Mura-jir’s guest quarters that evening.

She backed up to let him step over the threshold, eager to have him close to her, but he

remained planted in the corridor.

“I don’t know yet if I’m pregnant,” she said softly. “If that’s what’s bothering you.”

“How could you not know? Zhora said--”

“The tests she ran were inconclusive. They’re all calibrated for Sha-Shiri blood

chemistry. She said she could have compared new blood samples to the ones Cherra-Sha took,
but all the data from the Katavarri is gone.”

Kash hung his head and his thick, golden hair fell across his eyes. “Taimott plans to send

you back to earth, regardless of the results.”

Victoria’s chest felt heavy. She’d been thinking too much and the conclusions she’d

come to were hard but necessary choices. She put her hand on the taut muscle of Kash’s bicep
and caressed his velvet skin. “Don’t worry. I’ve thought about it and if I am pregnant, I’d be safe
on earth. My parents would be there for me. They’ll understand and they’ll help me raise our
child, no matter which family tree he takes after.”

Kash nodded. “I forgot about K’vshtin. He would surely see that you were protected.”

“Yes. And Zhora gave me this.” She held out the single dose of the shifter drug. It

sparkled in her palm. “I thought about taking it myself and becoming Sha-Shiri so I could be
with you.”

Kash’s hot gaze bored into her. “You would forsake your world to join me in exile?”

“I would, but then I decided to save this for my child ... if there is one. He may need it

one day more than I do in order to keep him safe from the authorities on earth.”

Kash reached out and closed Victoria’s fingers over the tablet. “You are wise.”

She sighed. “About some things maybe, but not everything.” She curled her fingers

around the leather straps of Kash’s harness and tugged him into her room. In spite of his superior
size and strength, he yielded to her directive. “How much time do we have?”

“A few hours until the Mura-jir is in range.” His voice was low and the tingle of his

breath against her ear made her body instantly ready for him.

“Close the door, Kash. I need you. Will you touch me?”

He stiffened, yet Victoria felt the bulge beneath his loin cloth rising against her thigh.

“We should not make the situation worse.” Even as he whispered the words, his tongue caressed
the sensitive skin below her jaw. She shivered and ran her hands up to his shoulders.

“We may never get to be together again.”

HUNTER’S MATE Bernadette Gardner

48

At her words, Kash stepped closer. He spread her thighs with one of his. Victoria’s breath

caught and her heart raced at the notion that their union was somehow forbidden. “Put your
hands on me....”

Kash obeyed, trailing his fingers from her hips to her breasts. In an instant, he burrowed

under her shirt with one hand. His fingertips ignited the nerve endings directly connected to her
sex. Moisture seeped down her thighs when Kash thrust his other hand into the waist band of the
leather belt and Sha-shiri skirt she’d borrowed from Zhora. Victoria angled her hips forward to
give him better access and moaned her demands to him.

“Lie down!”

She obeyed his command, eager for anything he planned to do to her. She stretched on

the cot, legs spread, her back already arching in anticipation.

She squirmed while Kash stripped off his harness and her mouth watered at the sight of

his erection jutting from beneath his tight abdominal muscles. She remembered the feel of him
inside her, that hot rod of flesh spreading her inner walls to the limit of endurance and she
whimpered for him.

He pounced, agile and powerful, and landed above her, straddling her. With single-

minded determination, he pulled her clothing off and stretched his body over hers.

“Your scent...,” he purred in her ear while his eager hands explored, petting and teasing

her. “I crave it. I need to have your essence on me.”

Breathless with need, Victoria responded by rubbing her body against him, spreading her

thick cream on his thigh. She guided his hands to her mound. “Touch me....”

He growled. “I need you beneath me. I need to feel you surrender to me again.” He

claimed her with a swift thrust, two fingers reaching deep inside her.

She gasped and pivoted her hips to take him in. The tremors of her first orgasm began

almost immediately. Her muscles clenched around him and she tumbled from the precipice as if
she’d been on the brink all along. “Can you feel me coming? Can you?”

“Yes, that’s it. Take me in, prepare for me.” Kash worked her hard, drawing every last

pulse from her orgasm until she lay blurry eyed and panting. She shuddered when he withdrew
his fingers from her and stroked her musky essence over the slick skin of her belly and thighs.
The gentle touch teased and tingled.

She cried out when he bent his head and licked her skin, tempering the gentle rasp of his

tongue with little nips that sent electric jolts of pleasure to her aching clit.

“Are you ready now?” he asked, rising above her. His cock bumped her slit, teasing and

testing the swollen flesh and finally parting her folds with slow deliberation a millimeter at a
time until she begged for all of him inside her.

When he took her, her body quaked. He gathered her in his arms and held her still,

soothing her with unintelligible words while his cock surged and grew, stretching her, filling her.
“Oh

my....”

“Don’t move, my mate....” He dipped his head and suckled at her throat, the rumbling in

his chest vibrating her body until once again an orgasm ripped through her. His final thrust left
her breathless and aware of nothing but the hot stream of his seed pumping into her womb.

“You are mine, and I am yours,” he whispered, claiming her with hard little thrusts that

rocked her body to the urgent rhythm of his own.

Beneath him, warm and spent, her body full and trembling, Victoria finally slept.

HUNTER’S MATE Bernadette Gardner

49

Chapter Twelve

Kash approached the bridge hours later, his back straight and his gait sure. He expected

resistance to his plan from Taimott but he refused to be denied.

He’d left Victoria sleeping, her sweet, sensual body still ripe with estrus. If she had not

conceived by now, she likely never would.

Taimott looked up at Kash’s approach and his expression changed from neutrality to one

of trepidation. “Why do I sense you’re going to tell me something I don’t want to hear?” he
asked.

“I have a solution to our dilemma. Surely that’s worth hearing.”

“Whatever this solution is, does it involve you and the hybrid remaining together?”

“Her name is Victoria. Don’t call her ‘the hybrid.’ She is more than just an accident of

genetics.”

Taimott bowed his head. “I meant no insult. I can see she’s exceptional ….”

“But you see her as alien.”

“Of course. She is alien. That doesn’t mean I dislike her.”

Kash shook his head to clear his thoughts. He hadn’t come to debate xenology or

philosophy with his old friend. He’d come to ask, or rather to demand, a favor. “Leave me on
earth with Victoria. I will take the shifter drug and live as K’vshtin has, as a human.”

Taimott stood, his expression pensive. “Avan’tek law dictates we must step back from

human contact and give them more time to mature.”

“I will become human. With Victoria’s help, I will blend into their society and like

K’vshtin, no one will know my true heritage ... except my mate and my children.”

Taimott dropped his hands to his sides and paced across the bridge. “K’vshtin’s situation

was unique and dangerous. And look what came of his ‘blending’ into society. His daughter was
abducted by the Val’tek. This is not a risk free life.”

“What is the alternative? If I return to Sha-Shiri I’ll have to remain in hiding from my

own people, hoping for the day the Sha’tek and the Val’tek cease to exist.”

Taimott met Kash’s gaze and he shook his head. “You’ve mated with her again, haven’t

you?”

Kash dropped his head, not in shame but frustration. “I will continue to do so. She is my

mate. There will be no other for me, ever.”

“You say that now, in the heat of this new passion, but one day you will long for a Sha-

Shiri female who can give you--”

“Give me what? A purebred offspring? Freedom from exile?”

“Victoria is mostly human. You don’t know what a child of yours would be, but it would

not be fully Sha-Shiri, or fully human either. Like Victoria, it would be unique, with a unique set
of problems that neither race might be able to satisfy.”

Kash sighed. He could not argue that point. “Either way, I cannot leave her.”

“I’m not sure I can let you go with her, Kash. For your own good.”

HUNTER’S MATE Bernadette Gardner

50

Kash turned. He gave Taimott a look that no Sha-Shiri could mistake as anything other

than a challenge. “I’m not asking your permission, Taimott. I’m telling you I will be going to
earth with Victoria.”

* * * *

“Well?” Victoria gave Zhora a wide-eyed stare and the Sha-Shiri medic shrugged.

“Nothing conclusive. I don’t think my instruments will ever be able to detect a human

pregnancy without some baseline readings to compare against. I wish I had Cherra-Sha’s notes.”

Victoria sighed. She’d gone from apprehension to abject hope. She wanted Kash’s child,

a part of him to keep forever, even if he would spend his life on the other side of the galaxy.

She knew now what she wanted from life and she wanted it desperately. She wanted what

her parents had, her own special family to nurture and protect and she wanted to feel Kash inside
her, body and soul, forever.

Zhora sighed. “I’m sorry. I’m beginning to wonder if Sha-Shiri and human DNA are not

compatible at all.”

Victoria gaped. “How do you explain me?”

“You said your father may have taken the shifter drug before or possibly during

conception. I’ve run some simulated tests and with the extent of DNA resequencing that would
have occurred, I’m beginning to think you may not be half Sha-Shiri after all. I don’t know what
Cherra-Sha found, but according to my limited scans, you’re completely genetically human.”

“But the Val’tek came all the way to earth to get me. Cherra-Sha believed ….”

“Cherra-Sha was a Val’tek agent who may have seen what she wanted to see. If you have

Sha-Shiri traits, they are not dominant in the least. I doubt you would even pass them on to an
offspring.”

Victoria tried to swallow that disconcerting thought. All her life she’d considered herself

special, not for her intelligence or her good fortune at having two loving, caring parents, but
because of her secret heritage. Being half Sha-Shiri had given her the edge she always thought
she needed to overcome the many obstacles life had thrown at her. It had given her the courage
to overcome her shyness as a child, to always fight for what she believed in because she knew a
Sha-Shiri would do just that. It had given her the courage to walk away from Mark and put his
unintentional humiliation behind her.

Now, at twenty-six, finding out she might be only human stripped her of her uniqueness.

A valuable portion of her identity had been excised along with the foolish hope that she carried
Kash’s child.

She slid off the medical cot and Zhora patted her shoulder. “I’m sorry, Victoria. I’ll be

happy to run the tests again before you leave Mura-jir.”

Victoria shook her head. “I don’t think that will be necessary, Zhora. Thank you,

anyway.”

* * * *

“Ashan’s ship is beyond sensor range. It’s likely he won’t be coming back,” M’tash

announced when the crew had assembled in the conference room at the end of the Mura-jir’s day
cycle.

“That’s great. That means the Sha’tek believe we’re dead, right?” Victoria asked. Once

again she sat next to Kash. Beneath the table, their thighs touched and his fingers entwined with
hers.

HUNTER’S MATE Bernadette Gardner

51

Taimott had settled his piercing silver-blue gaze on them and Victoria swore she could

feel his disapproval engulf them across the table. “It would seem so. We can circle the sun and
return to earth now.”

Victoria glanced at Kash. They’d discussed the possibility of him coming with her

regardless of Taimott’s concerns. The Mura-jir’s captain shook his head as if he’d read her mind.

“Kash, I wish I could force you to return to Sha-Shiri. In order to protect you both, when

we return home, I’m going to have to tell your family that you’re dead.”

Kash nodded and Victoria sensed the tension in the hard planes of his body. How would

she feel in the same situation? She’d have given up earth to go with him into hiding, knowing her
parents would never know exactly what became of her.

“Let them believe I died for a cause they all support. You can tell them the truth

someday, when the Sha’tek threat has passed.”

“We’ll all pray to the Creator for that day to come swiftly,” Zhora said. “Perhaps there

will be a time when we will be able to visit you on earth and be welcomed by Victoria’s people.”

“You have a standing invitation,” Victoria said. She closed her hand over Kash’s and

squeezed. “Just park your spaceship in the woods out back and come on down. I know my father
will always be glad to see you.”

HUNTER’S MATE Bernadette Gardner

52

Chapter Thirteen

Kash faced Victoria in the small room he’d been assigned on the Mura-jir. Beyond the

tiny portal, earth hung blue and jewel-like over her bare shoulder. Their journey would begin
shortly and he had to prepare.

“Will it hurt?” Victoria asked. Kash blinked. She stood before him, naked, her skin

glistening with sweat from their recent lovemaking. He’d taken her body a final time in his Sha-
Shiri form and now he held the shifter tablet in his palm, ready to become human.

“Originally the drug was designed to disguise a dead or injured body. Pain was not an

issue.”

“My father never really spoke about the transformation in detail, but I always got the

impression it wasn’t exactly pleasant.”

“Perhaps it would be better if you didn’t watch.”

“No.” She stepped forward and put her hands on his shoulders. He bent his head to take

in the musky scent of her skin. “I need to be here with you. You’re doing this for me.”

“No, not only for you.” Kash put a finger against her lips. “This is my choice. If I didn’t

need you, if I could imagine a future without you, I would send you on your way alone, but I
can’t. It’s my own selfish desire to possess you at any cost that motivates me.”

She smiled and pressed her lips against his fingers, then his palm and his body stirred for

her again. She brought his hand to her breast and held it there above her swiftly beating heart.

“Do Sha-Shiri believe in love at first sight?” she asked.

“We believe in destined mates. I never would have thought I’d find mine on another

world.”

“Are you ready to live on that world? It won’t be easy, Kash. Earth is ... a challenging

place at the best of times.”

Kash raised a brow. “I would live in the tar pits of Mondavia if it meant being with you.”

She laughed, a deep, feline purr. “That’s sweet. Tar pits. Earth has tar pits, too, you

know, for when we’re ready to find a little place of our own.”

Though he would have preferred to make love to her again, Kash stepped back and put

the crimson tablet on his tongue. He focused on Victoria’s face, her moss green eyes and supple
body beckoning him as the change began.

At first there was no pain, only a faint electric tingle over his body. A wave of dizziness

forced him to sit on the cot and Victoria’s worried voice reached him as if through an underwater
tunnel. “Are you all right? Let me call Zhora.”

“No!” His voice seemed rough and foreign to his own ears. His eyesight blurred then

focused on a hairless hand that could not have been his own save that it seemed to be attached to
his equally hairless arm.

His face hurt and his skin felt cold and unprotected. His teeth felt blunt and too large for

his mouth. Sweat covered the now smooth skin of his chest and poured in rivulets down his
abdomen toward his cock which seemed blissfully unchanged except for the color of the skin
that stretched over its length.

HUNTER’S MATE Bernadette Gardner

53

He held his hands in front of his face and examined his rounded nails and the smattering

of fine golden hairs that covered his forearms. “Do ... I ... how do I look?” Victoria stared, and
Kash fought not to panic. What if he was hideous to her eyes? “Did it work?”

“It worked. You’re ... beautiful.” She took his face in her hands and brushed her lips

against his. The sensation roused him. Between his naked human thighs, his balls tightened when
she dipped her tongue between his lips.

“Incredible,” she whispered.

Kash ran his hands over Victoria’s body and drew her against him. Without his pelt

between them, the friction of her bare skin on his was delicious, more sensual than he ever would
have imagined.

When she bent her head to his chest and licked the new skin around one nipple, he

groaned. As a Sha-Shiri he’d never experienced such a sensation.

“So, I look normal?”

“As humans go ... you’ll do.” She laughed and tugged on his hands to pull him off the

bed. “Do you have a mirror somewhere on board?”
“In

the

infirmary.”

She sighed. “Well, maybe later I’ll let you go see yourself. Right now, we’d better test

this new body of yours and make sure everything works.”

Kash flexed his fingers and his arms. His muscles responded normally. Ligaments and

bones all seemed in working order. He curled his toes and arched his back. “I think everything
is--”

“Lie down. I’m talking about the really important parts.”

“Oh....”

She pushed him onto his back on the bed and straddled him. Her bare skin seemed so

much warmer than he remembered, softer and sweeter. “These look okay.” She palmed his balls
and squeezed gently.

Kash smiled. “Perhaps a closer inspection is in order?”

“Hmm, this looks fine, too, but we’ll need to measure hardness and durability.” She

lowered herself onto his cock inch by glorious inch and began a wild rhythm that sent Kash
spiraling into oblivion. He clamped his clawless fingers around her hips and thrust upward,
desperate for release almost immediately. She gasped and arched above him.

“Is this hard enough?”

She purred for him and within seconds, she’d begun to come, her slick folds tightening

around his erection and drawing him to his own shuddering climax. “Oh, yes ... this will do
nicely.”

* * * *

TWO DAYS LATER

Moonlight streamed through the lacy yellow curtains of the Cambridge kitchen and

danced across the table where Kash sat examining his new face in a hand mirror.

Victoria gave the place an experimental sniff as she rounded the table. The sharp scent of

lemon pine cleanser had replaced the fetid odor of rotting steak and everything seemed in order.

She’d been gone ten days. Long enough for the pile of mail inside the front door to have

toppled over, spilling envelopes and newspapers across the rag rug. Long enough for her parents
to leave a dozen frantic messages on the answering machine.

HUNTER’S MATE Bernadette Gardner

54

She’d called them immediately, caught them at the airport in Sydney and assured them

she was fine and that she had a very special guest for them to meet when they returned.

They’d be home in a few hours and she hadn’t yet begun to figure out how to tell them

what she’d been through.

Kash set the mirror down and ran a hand through the waves of golden blond hair that fell

to his shoulders. “Do you think I should shorten this? Does it look unruly?”

“It’s gorgeous,” she said. “I do think you should put on a shirt, though.” She ran her

hands over his back and brushed a kiss on his bare shoulder, resisting the urge to sink her teeth
into his muscular flesh. “It’s going to be enough of a shock when I tell my parents I brought
home a Sha-Shiri from outer space. If you’re half naked when they get here ... well, it’ll be hard
enough telling my father you got his unemployed, twenty-six year old daughter pregnant. It
would definitely be better if you were fully dressed when you do it.”

Kash’s tawny eyes widened. “Do you think he will demand penance?”

Victoria nudged the pregnancy test stick that lay in the center of the table. She took a

moment to admire the bright blue line that signaled a positive result and wondered how a race
that could restructure someone’s DNA could not have invented something as simple as a urine
screening test stick.

“Not penance, but he’ll expect you to get a job and wear more than a leather harness and

loincloth around the house.”

“I will do whatever is necessary to care for you and all of our offspring.” Kash pulled

Victoria into his arms and kissed her breathless. “No matter how many there are.”

The End