The Dracan race was created a millennium ago by a wealthy woman determined to fix the problems she saw with the way people fell in love.  But the “fix” only made things more complicated...

Ruliann, a Dracan woman, is about to give up hope for a pairbonded mate, when Jonnath returns from six years off-planet.  Unwilling to risk failure, she refuses to give him a chance--but he takes matters into his own hands. Invoking the Dracan custom of “the right of challenge,” he drags her off to the wilderness to see if they can revive the magic between them.

Ruliann is furious. Jonnath must convince her they belong together. He's waited years for her -- and for the heat between them. Their discovery that she’s been drugged for years only ignites their passion.

EXCERPT:

Chapter One

     It just figured. As soon as she decided to take a vow of celibacy, the hottest guy in this sector of the galaxy finally called. Ruliann jumped down from the surface transporter at the entrance to the wilding terminal, frustration lending her energy as she automatically weaved through the surging crowds.

     When she had seen the note from Jonnath on her personal comp asking her to meet him here, her stomach dropped with a queasy mixture of fear and anticipation.
     Their attraction six years ago had been instantaneous and overpowering, even though nothing had come of it. He had been fun to talk to, smart, and thoughtful of other people -- in addition to having a gorgeous body, sultry green eyes, and a just about perfect face. Then he had left.
     Why did he have to come back to Draco Tertia now? And why did he want to see her, anyway? She couldn’t believe that he wanted to pick up on their brief acquaintance of so long ago. Wouldn’t he have kept in touch with her if he cared that much?
     It wasn’t as though they had been that close. They had never even had sex. Remembering that fact made her scowl even after such a long time. Six years ago she would have done about anything for the chance to --
     No. She was not going to go there. That was all water under the dam.
     She had almost skipped the rendezvous, reluctant to revive her old feelings, but sheer curiosity made her change her mind. She hadn’t seen him in six years and wanted to know if he was still as attractive as ever. That was all.
     She would just say hello, chat for a few minutes, and they would go their separate ways. More than likely he was just checking in with people to get back in the swing of things. As soon as he found out that she was joining the Plexanian order, he’d be gone faster than a fircat.
     She made her way through the crowds of teenagers and their families preparing for the wilderyear. The departure terminal reeked of excitement and fear, mixed with the scents of leather and cerastic survival gear, and even the occasional whiff of arousal. Like healthy young animals, even when setting off on such a watershed trip the teenage Dracans were still thinking about sex. Judging from her own memories of being a teenage Dracan, it might be more accurate to say that they never stopped thinking about sex -- but she was older and staider now. She wasn’t even going to think about how long it had been since she’d had a boyfriend.
     Ruliann had loved her wilderyear. She loved the challenge of living in the primitive wilderback without adult supervision, accompanied only by her peers. And she enjoyed the sexual experimentation typical of that year. After Dracans pairbonded, they could only have sex with their pairbonded mates. That tended to motivate young Dracans to explore as much as possible before settling down.
     Like most young Dracan girls, she had expected to grow up and find a highly compatible man, someone to be kiadrin to her, someone with whom she would pairbond. She was Dracan, after all, and pairbonding and a highly developed sense of smell were designed into her genes.
     But the years passed and the right person never showed up.
     A young couple entwined in each other’s arms near one of the exit gates gave off an intense scent of arousal. Passersby smiled on them, probably remembering their own early stages of pairbonding.
     Ruliann just looked away. Something hard and lonely ached in her chest. None of her relationships had ever developed beyond the pleasant stage. When she met Jonnath the chemistry between them had been so strong. She couldn’t help hoping that he would be the one.
     She knew that he was attracted to her -- strongly attracted. That wasn’t something that one Dracan could hide from another, since the hormones, pheromones and the smell of sexual arousal were obvious. But when he went off-planet to study, she abandoned her hopes for a relationship.
     She had shrugged and tried to move on. Jonnath wasn’t the only man out there. Surely one of the others would be her special match. But it didn’t happen. Machika, her college roommate, provided support and encouragement -- and Ruliann adapted.
     Her involvement in the Plexanian Sanctuary helped a lot. She found helping women in trouble rewarding.
     Now Jonnath was back on Draco Tertia and wanted to see her. She had no claim on him, no right to expect anything. But it was going to be hard to see the man who had come closest to being her kiadrin. She wanted to stop hoping, stop wondering if this year she would meet someone -- so the idea of taking her vows drew her. It was a way to close out this chapter of her life and take control.
     Dammit, why did he have to come back now?
     The crowd in the terminal thinned out as she approached the cafe in a quiet corner of the central rotunda. At a table near the entrance she saw the outline of a familiar masculine figure, saw the shape of his shoulders, the powerful muscles in his thighs, and the wave of his thick chestnut hair. Her body clenched at the visceral impact of that recognition. She assumed she would have grown out of that immediate reaction.
     Wrong again.
     Taking a deep breath to relax herself, she inhaled a wisp of his distinctive scent. Damn. He still smelled incredibly good to her, too. Forget deep breathing; shallow breathing was required here. She needed to control herself. Letting Jonnath know how much he affected her was unthinkable. He had left her before, and she was committed to a life choice that didn’t have room for him. She would not let him disrupt her life again.
     With what she hoped was the pleasant social expression of a mere acquaintance, she moved toward his seat at the cafe table.
                                                          * * * * *
     Jonnath detected Ruliann’s unique combination of aromas and pheromones when she was halfway down the terminal, but he deliberately didn't look in her direction. His body was humming in anticipation, on high alert and eager for her presence. He knew his fantasies of the past six years weren’t about to come true, but it was an intellectual knowledge. The rest of him could hardly wait.
     He had to be in control of his emotions in order to convince her to give him a chance. If the trip from Epindrath to Draco Prime hadn’t been enough time to prepare, he doubted that the next couple of seconds would do much good. But he couldn’t help taking every nanosecond he could get.
     When he had met her six years ago, he had been head over heels with wanting. But the attraction was too strong to indulge casually -- the risk of bonding was too high.
He had been committed to studying with the Epindrathi, and they wouldn’t allow him to bring a mate. If Ruliann and he had pairbonded, he wouldn’t have been able to leave her because pairbonding was a form of addiction, with severe withdrawal effects. It would have put an end to his ambitious plans to find a cure for his sister Sabriel’s disability.
     He had left with only a casual goodbye, while his heart wanted so much more.
There were good things about being a Dracan. Jonnath could hardly imagine being anything else. But some of the consequences of the pairbonding genes could really complicate life. At moments like this he almost wished he were standard human. Almost -- but not quite.
     If things went perfectly, he would be able to pick up right where they had left off years ago. Their mutual attraction would be as strong as ever, and they would fall deeply in love. On the other hand, if things didn’t go well ... Well, Ruliann might not even be speaking to him when this was over.
     He had tried to plan for every eventuality. It was one thing he was good at -- planning. Before he met Ruliann he had made the perfect plan to help Sabriel. He had arranged everything, got all the complicated permissions, and committed himself to several years of study. But he hadn’t expected Ruliann.
     When he met her he hadn’t known whether to rejoice or despair. His schedule had been too tight, left too little room for error. He couldn’t fit her into it. So he had made a new plan, including coming back, finding her again, and being with her for the rest of his life.
     He still wanted that, but his chance of succeeding didn’t seem high right now, after what he had heard about her life and her decision to join the Plexanian order. He shook his head at his foolishness. With twenty-twenty hindsight, if he could do it over would he still leave? It was hard to say. Because he had come back with a solution, a cure for Sabriel. And that was worth a lot. He just hoped that he didn’t have to give up Ruliann for it.
     He could tell that she was close now -- her enticing aroma of gilly flowers and musk was stronger. Her fragrance flooded his senses. His body tensed as he prepared to resist the magnetism that he remembered.
     He turned toward the entrance of the cafe and, when he saw Ruliann, breathed in hard. She was even more beautiful than his memory, her hair a shimmering blend of Dracan mahogany with scattered blonde and brown, her skin soft and touchable. And in addition to being beautiful, she was warm and smart -- everything he had ever wanted in a woman. His body leaped in anticipation.
     He had to succeed. He just had to.
     Unfortunately for him her expression, though not unfriendly, was guarded. Somehow he would have to get through her defenses.
     Holding out his hand, he smiled warmly. “Ruliann. It’s been way too long.”
     “Jonnath, how good to see you. Have you finally finished your studies on Epindrath? Or are you just visiting?”
     “I’m finished except for the final details of publishing my report. I came home unexpectedly to deal with a family emergency.”
     She settled herself on the chair opposite him and raised her eyebrows. “Your family? Is something wrong with Trellnor?”
     He shook his head. “No, my immediate family is fine. This was a cousin you probably don’t know.” He waved his hand in dismissal of the cousin. The nonexistent cousin. Ruliann herself was the family emergency. “So tell me what’s up with you. What have you been doing for the last few years?”
     This was not the way he had envisioned meeting her at this point in his life. He had fantasized about this meeting over the last six years, and none of the fantasies included this kind of cool conversation between almost-strangers.
     As they discussed what they had both been doing during the intervening years, Jonnath felt colder and colder as the old spark failed to leap between them. Sure, there had been that initial surge of attraction. But after that everything went flat.
     His senses told him that she was not responding to him, her body and hormones were not tuning themselves to him, and he struggled to contain his disappointment. When they had first met, their arousal had been equal and immediate, each of them inspiring the other in a perfectly choreographed dance of attraction. Something had changed and not for the better.
     If they were no longer attracted to each other enough to bond, he would have to give her up in the end. But not without giving it his best effort.
     They had reached the present in their recap of past history. She shrugged, clearly wanting to gloss over the details, and said, “So then I decided to join the Plexanian Order. I’m committed to their mission, and I can participate more fully in their community life if I live in the Order’s enclave.” There was a defensive note in her voice, as though she were girding herself against his objections. No doubt she had gotten plenty of that from her parents. Dracans were very family oriented. Her parents would not have been happy about this decision.
     Jonnath leaned back. He was trying to be careful, even though it didn’t come naturally to him. His normal tendency was to fasten on a goal, put his head down, and head straight toward it. But if he said the wrong thing ... He wanted to tell her she would be wasting her life, that she deserved so much more, but instead he merely asked, “What about a mate? A family?”
     She shrugged. “It wasn’t happening. It’s not like it’s a life sentence. The order doesn’t lock up its members, you know.”
     “So, couldn’t you have continued to work with their mission without actually taking vows?”
     She scowled. “I didn’t think you would be sympathetic. You are a man, after all.”
The corner of his mouth crooked up in a half smile. “Well, yes. I am a man. I can’t argue with that.” It was time. He had to tell her now. “A man who had hoped ...” His mind worked furiously to figure out the best way to put this. He took a deep breath. All that he had was the truth. It would have to do. “A man who had hoped that there was something between us that we could explore, when the time was ripe.”
     Her eyes narrowed and her lips pursed.
     It wasn’t looking good, but he kept going, making his voice as seductive and enticing as he could. “I had hoped that when I came back to Draco, if things were the same between us, that maybe ... that maybe we could think about getting together.” Damn. He had blown it. He knew it. The expression on her face told him that.
     “And you thought I would be just waiting around for you whenever it was convenient?” Her voice was rough with emotion. “How nice it must be to know that the world revolves around you.” She straightened her shoulders and sat up straight. “But it can’t have escaped your notice that things aren’t the same between us. The old spark just isn’t there anymore, is it?”
     Her face was a bit white, and grim, and his Dracan senses told him that she was upset, probably angry. That acrid smell could cover a lot of emotional ground.
     But it was so like Ruliann to face the issue head on. He’d always admired the way she charged right at something, without regard to the consequences. But just this once, he wished she could have joined with him in pretending things were the same. Maybe it was temporary; maybe it was due to ... to lack of contact. Hell, maybe there was some physical imbalance in one of them, something that could be fixed. He wouldn’t give up his dream so easily. He had spent too many years imagining and fantasizing being with Ruliann.
     His face felt like it was set in stone as he said, “I would like to give it a chance. Give us a chance.” He saw the rejection in her face. “Put off joining the order. Please, Ruliann. Please,” he said, his voice low. He didn’t normally beg for anything, but for this he would make an exception. He’d do anything to have back the possibilities he’d walked away from six years ago.
     “I’m sorry, Jonnath.” She pushed her chair back from the table as though she were going to leave. “I’ve made my decision. I’m not going to change my mind for a mere whim, a nonexistent chance of something between us. It wouldn’t work.” Her lips pressed together in a hard line, and she said more softly, “And the failure would be devastating.”
     Jonnath held his breath briefly, then exhaled. He caught her gaze, holding it with firm intent. “I’m invoking kiadra shinneth, a formal challenge.”
     She slumped back in her seat, a look of incredulity on her face. “You’re what?” She ran her hand through her hair. “In order to do that you have to ...” Her voice trailed off, and she shook her head as though to clear it. “You declared me kiadra suth? And left for six years?”
     He shook his head slowly. “It wasn’t supposed to be six years. I was so close, so many times, to having the complete solution, but there was always some missing piece. Ruliann, give me a chance; give me the challenge weeks. Let’s see if there is still something between us.”
     “But, Jonnath, you have no competition.” There was a hard, sarcastic note in her voice. “Kiadra shinneth doesn’t apply.”
     He squared his shoulders, and kept his voice low and firm. “I’m afraid that it does. Taking vows with the Plexanian order is legally equivalent to marriage, so I have the right to object.”
     She narrowed her eyes. “So you think I’m going to go off and spend two weeks just hanging out with you, waiting for some lightning blast of attraction, just to see if we end up in a pre-bonding state? Not in this universe.”
     He looked at her, letting all his yearning show in his eyes. “We had something special six years ago. We could have something special again.” He reached toward her. “I’m not asking you for anything but your time.”
     Ruliann stood up, pulled a few credits from her pocket, and tossed them on the table. “Tough. I’m not doing it.”
     Jonnath almost decided to let her go. It wasn’t going to be easy to deal with her anger -- or the prospect of hurting her with failure. But he was committed. He had to give this one last chance. “Wait, please.” He stood and held out his hand to her. “Don’t leave on this negative note. We were good friends once. Please. For old times’ sake.”
     He could see the indecision on her face. She wanted to hold on to her anger, to use it to give her energy. But she was basically a warm, caring woman. Slowly, she held out her hand. “For the sake of our former friendship.”
     His hand grasped her softer, smaller hand. He smiled at her apologetically and said, “I can’t let you go yet, you know.”
     Her eyes drifted shut and she slumped to the ground.