Adrift by Erica Conroy

herself from his grip but he held fast and dug his nails in.
    "Oh yes, you did," he drawled and pressed his nose into her hair. "A fitting end though. Alone in life, alone in death. No blaze of glory for a Colonel in the Space Corps. Did he not meet your expectations or do you like to get off on controlling men?"
    Jasmine tried to free herself again. As she pulled forward, he ripped the skin from her shoulder. The same one Norik had left his brand on her. "No," she whimpered. "I saved him."
    The General tossed aside her flesh and sighed, "If that is what will help you sleep at night. Oh wait, it won't. I have plans for you, my dear. I'm afraid they don't include everything you've envisioned in your happily ever after. There will be a child though, you just won't be around to see him grow into a nice, strong and very deadly little boy."
    Jasmine whirled around to slap him but the man was fast and caught her wrist. "I'll stop you," she said through clenched teeth. "I'll stop you and I'll kill you."
    He laughed. "You've run out of expendable men to carry out your bidding," he told her. "Besides, you don't need them. I'm giving you a purpose to your life. No other man has given you that. Have they?"
    She opened her mouth to argue with him but nothing came out. Her brow furrowed as she desperately tried to think of someone who had.
    "Shhh. I know," he said and gently pushed her hair back behind her ear. "Just lay back for me and I can make it all better."
    Jasmine let him ease her back onto the table only it had turned in to a large canister that contained a goo of some kind. It was magenta and billowed around her softly as she sunk into it. Her startled eyes locked onto the General's and she belatedly answered his question. "Norik."

    The man in question had been forced to retire to his quarters. It had been an epic battle but both his Second and the Doctor had overridden him and thrown their collective authority around. They argued that he had undergone a harrowing ordeal over the past few days and needed to recover. Norik had only agreed to bed rest after they had pointed out the logic in being rested for what might come next. He would need his strength or he would be no use to Jasmine or anyone.
    Nancy slipped out of Norik's quarters and glared at Xon who was waiting for her in the corridor.
    "Well?" Xon asked and leaned a shoulder against the wall next to her. "Has he lost his mind?"
    "Hardly," Nancy told the Duarr. He was extremely close but she wasn't about to back off or show that he bothered her. Not even when Xon reached out and twirled one of her blond curls around his finger. Xon's species were dual-gendered but Xon felt more connected to his masculine gender. "I think he's in love," she told him
    Xon paused and stared at her openmouthed. "Not Colonel Celibate," he said in obvious disbelief.
    "Stranger things have happened," Nancy sniffed at him.
    "Aw c'mon babe," he said and flashed her his winning smile. "A Duarr makes one little mistake."
    "Your little mistake had the biggest breasts I've ever seen on a woman," Nancy hissed at him and snatched her curl from his finger.
    "I've seen bigger," Xon told her and belatedly realized that would never be the right response to a woman. "I mean. Argh! We're supposed to be talking about the Colonel, not us."
    "There is no us ," she informed him matter-of-factly. "And the Colonel needs to have his shoulder operated on, which is something we both know he won't consent to. Not until after this situation is sorted."
    Xon quit giving her the kicked puppy look when she got back to business and he knew she wouldn't buy it. "Well he's relentless even when he's not in love," he pointed out.
    "Something tells me this will be worse than usual," Nancy said. She cast a worried glance over her shoulder to her Colonel's door.
    "So we cover his ass and go along for the ride," Xon told her. "Speaking of rides, guess what I'm thinking?"
    Nancy slapped him, turned on her heel and headed for her