“You know I cannot do that, Shani.”

“Then keep me within your sight, but yourself out of his notice. You can do that-”

Shanelle fell silent as she realized it was too late. The visitor was already approaching, signaling the judge that he wouldn’t be participating further at this time. And with those long legs, he was there before Shanelle could get her thoughts together. But he was still looking only at Corth.

“If you wish not to enter these competitions, we can go elsewhere to settle this matter in private.”

He had the Sha-Ka’ani language down pat, with only a slight accent that was really very lyrical, but Shanelle’s mouth dropped at that opening challenge, and it was a challenge. Corth, however, was still finding the situation highly amusing.

He smiled at the visitor. “This we could do, yet would the doing be unnecessary. The woman has made her choice.”

Those light blue eyes came to Shanelle, and even through her sudden mortification, she knew she was looking at an intensity of emotion the likes of which she’d never experienced before. Hot, savage-scary, but gone as soon as he looked back at Corth, leaving Shanelle merely shaken and wondering if she’d imagined it. But she hadn’t imagined Corth’s bald statement.

“I’m going to unplug you for that,” she whispered to her friend, her cheeks still burning.

Both males chose not to hear her, or else hadn’t heard her during their continuing regard of each other. The visitor was looking at Corth’s hair when he asked him, “Are you from the east?”

“No,” Corth said simply.

“From this planet?”

“Not originally.”

That easily, Corth was dismissed and Shanelle had the man’s attention again. She found it amusing that he had thought Corth a warrior, even though he lacked the bulging biceps of a warrior, and the extreme height. And she could be amused because those azure eyes weren’t so unsettling this time, but were merely appraising, curious, and definitely interested.

“He is no more than your escort?” he asked her.

“An escort, but also a friend-also an android.”

“An android.”

He said the word as if he didn’t know what it meant, but Shanelle decided only one thing needed clarification just then. “He will leave me with you if you want to-talk.”

She put enough insinuation into the last word that a dummy could catch her meaning, yet the man took her literally. “I would do more than talk.”

So it was going to take plain speaking, was it? She grinned. As long as he wasn’t a warrior, she could be as bold as she pleased.

“So would I,” she told him.

The man’s smile at that point nearly made her knees buckle. How was it possible for his attractiveness to double with a mere curling of the lips? And that wasn’t all he did. He bent under the thick cable that roped off the arena and came to stand directly in front of Shanelle, and that close, his size just about overwhelmed her.

He really was only an inch or two shorter than her father, which put him nearly a foot above her own head. And the width of him… A body like his was nice to look at, it surely was, but she really wished he wasn’t so tall, or so strong. That was one of the reasons she didn’t want a warrior. You simply had no defense against someone this big. And this big someone was a visitor, which meant he wouldn’t have a warrior’s control-the control that kept a warrior from accidentally or otherwise hurting a woman who was, of course, much smaller than he.

Suddenly Shanelle realized that if she proceeded, she might be letting herself in for some unwanted pain-and not just the kind that went along with losing one’s virginity. Stars, why hadn’t that occurred to her sooner? But look at him! He was absolutely gorgeous. And he was the one who had knocked her socks off. There was no getting around that.

She bit her lip in indecision. Dared she take the chance? Damn it, yes! It was incredible that she’d found him at all and so soon, so she wasn’t going to press her luck by looking any further. And he might be big, but that didn’t mean he wouldn’t be careful with her.

She stepped back a little to relieve the strain on her neck that staring up at him was causing. He caught her hand, however, and pulled her right back. And he did not release her hand now that he had it. She couldn’t complain about his wanting to touch her. She wanted to touch him, too. But she could complain about the close proximity.

“You’re going to have to give me some space if you want me to look at you. My neck won’t bear up very long under this strain.”

It took only one of his thick arms to lift her and hold her up against his chest. She felt a thrill of alarm at his aggressive boldness, but they were now eye-to-eye, and Shanelle had a new problem, one with her senses. Stars, it felt wonderful to be pressed against him like this, so wonderful that she didn’t want to recall that they couldn’t stay this way, not here anyway. But she did recall it.

“You know this won’t work, big guy, not in public.” But she compromised. “Put me down and give me an arm’s length. You can keep my hand.”

“My name is Falon Van’yer,” was how he responded to her order.

“I’m glad to know it, but you’re still going to have to put me down until we aren’t so public.”

“You say that as if you expect to have it your way. Do you often have your way?”

She sensed his amusement over the subject. Nor was he putting her down.

“I don’t always get my way, no,” she admitted carefully. “But a good deal of the time I do, especially when I’m using common sense and others are not.”

He laughed, a bass rumble she felt clear to her toes. “I, too, am accustomed to having my way, but all of the time. And I have a small advantage over you.”

Was that supposed to be his idea of a joke? “Why be modest? You have a big advantage over me.” And then her eyes narrowed. “You aren’t going to put me down, are you?”

“No.”

“Not even if it causes problems when a warrior demands that you release me? I am protected, Falon Van’yer, and this cloak I’m wearing is well recognized.”

His other hand came up to finger the cloak at her shoulder. “I am aware of this, woman, though I could wish it were otherwise. Yet have you given yourself into my care for the while, so there will be no difficulty with these Kan-is-Tran warriors.”

She wasn’t going to point out that the warriors who might stop him were her father’s warriors who knew her. She still didn’t want him to know who she was until it was absolutely necessary. And there was only one alternative just now.

She suggested it. “How about you put me down long enough for us to leave here?”

“So you still try to have it your way even though I have refused you? Is this going to be a problem, woman, your being unable to accept my will?”

Shanelle had a feeling that question was too important by half. If she said yes, would he put her down and walk away? But she couldn’t say no, because it just might be a problem. And maybe she’d better find out right now if it would be.

“I had hoped we could spend some time together to get to know each other. That does not mean I belong to you, Falon. Even if I did belong to you, I might not agree with everything you say. I’m not a slave who will obey without question. I have my own opinions and feelings, which may or may not be contrary to yours. If your will is reasonable and justified, of course I can accept it. But if it is not, don’t expect me to keep quiet about it. And I think I would like to know now if it is against your principles to take what I say under consideration.”

“Have I not just listened to everything you had to say?” he said.

“That’s true, you did. And you haven’t run like hell on finding out I can be a tiny bit arbitrary.” He smiled at that. So did she. “Perhaps you might tell me why you don’t want to put me down.”