Free Rystani Warrior 04 - The Quest by Susan Kearney

powerful and wealthy family to know the Raven must be a slow, uncomfortable tub to him. No doubt, Kirek was accustomed to food materializers, sentient computers, and the best starship designs in the galaxy. Supposedly he needed her to help him enter Dakmar undercover, but with his connections, he could have made better arrangements.
    She stopped and spun on her heel so suddenly, only his lightning reflexes allowed him to halt in time to prevent him from bumping into her. But she’d wanted to catch him off guard. “Why didn’t Tessa arrange for you to go undercover?”
    “Due to the family connection, any arrangement she makes might be uncovered by Zin spies.” Kirek answered immediately, but not without a sheepish look.
    “I’m not sure I follow. I thought the Zin couldn’t get past the Sentinels that guard our galaxy.”
    “The Zin have coveted Federation space for a millennium. What is not well known is that the Zin once lived here. Before they left, they set traps. One of those was on the Jarn world. They changed the Jarn DNA and made them slaves. While the Jarn are now free, other races like the Kraj may work for them—willing or not.”
    “That’s why you didn’t kill the Kraj—they might be unwilling slaves to the Zin?”
    “Yes. If Tessa, Kahn, Dora, Zical, Xander, and Alara came along or helped me, we’d have a much higher chance of being spotted.”
    “But the Kraj have found you. Why not call in help now?”
    “Because it’s easier for a small ship like the Raven to disappear again in hyperspace after we leave Dakmar.”
    “Okay. I get it.”
    “If I asked, they would all help. But I don’t want to endanger families. My relatives all have children.” His voice softened as he spoke of them.
    He came from a big happy family that looked out for one another. She suppressed a stab of jealousy by reminding herself that she was independent and self-sufficient because she’d learned to stand on her own from an early age.
    “How do you think the Kraj ship found you?”
    His eyes flashed, and she could see he’d already considered the problem. “Either someone in my last port or the ship that dropped me on the Vogan ship recognized me, or the Kraj intercepted one of my messages, or I was betrayed by the man who sold you the information about the salvage. For the duration of the mission, I don’t plan to make any communications with my home world. I’ll have to ask for the same commitment from your people.”
    “Frie and Leval don’t have family except each another. Petroy is a loner.”
    “That leaves you.”
    “It’s not a problem.”
    He slanted a shoulder against a wall, thrusting one hip slightly forward. His tone changed to a husky murmur, increasing the intimacy of his already suggestive tone. “We’ll have to depend on one another for conversation.”
    Wow. For a warrior, the man knew how to flirt. While she might be suspicious of drawing four aces, she wasn’t about to toss in a winning hand. She’d made it clear to him she wasn’t marriage-minded and now saw no reason not to explore the possibility of knowing him better. She leaned very close to him and enjoyed watching his irises dilate and his nostrils flare. Using her psi to lift her body with null grav, she rose until her lips almost brushed his cheek.
    He held perfectly still, watching her with a crooked and pleased grin.
    She whispered into his ear. “Somehow, I don’t think I’ll have to worry about a lack of conversation.”
    Before he had a chance to respond beyond a slight widening of his eyes, with a flick of her psi she dropped to her feet, spun, and started to walk away, making certain to sway her hips just a bit more than necessary—and was quite satisfied with his reaction.
    She’d taken two steps when his hand closed over her wrist. With a predatory gleam in his eyes, he tugged her against his chest, and she barely restrained a pleased chuckle. Resisting didn’t cross her mind. In fact, she couldn’t have