Thank you to those who have reviewed. Thanks also to Valairy Scot who beta'd this. she also suggested I put a "cold shower" warning for this upcoming chapter, so you have been warned. ;)

CHAPTER 3 There Is No Passion

Ferus Olin couldn't sleep.

He lay awake in the darkened room listening to the soft snoring of his temporary bunk-mate, Anakin, in the next bed. The large transport had enough sleep cabins to allow the masters to have their own quarters, with the padawans sharing a room. They were not really friends, but made the best of it. With their masters being so close, they really had no choice.

Now their rivalry seemed to intensify because of a beautiful young woman aboard the vessel, and Ferus cringed at the thought. They should know better. They were Jedi.

But when this girl looked at him, he felt like there was no one else in all the galaxy except she. His heart pounded, his face flushed, he wanted nothing more at that moment than to have her attention.

Unfortunately she seemed to affect Anakin the same way. He blushed as he thought of himself and Anakin pushing each other, falling over each other to get her attention. When she had come into the common room the previous day, Anakin and Ferus had been sitting quietly as they studied their lessons on their data pads from their Temple classes.

As soon as she had walked in, both had dropped their datapads and jumped to their feet. She had greeted both with a big smile, and they had jostled each other to be the first to offer her a seat, to ask if she wanted anything. When she had complained of her feet hurting, Ferus had jumped to help her, but Anakin had bumped him and landed at her feet first, grinning like a fool as he quickly removed her dainty boots and began rubbing her feet. Ferus had felt his face flushing with annoyance and had thought about using a force push to get Anakin out of his way, but decided instead to offer Vyxn a cold drink, which she readily accepted. Feeling a little better at being able to do something for her, he went to the refreshment console at the side of the room.

While he had been getting her drink, he had heard a displeased grunt behind him. Ferus had turned to find Master Obi-Wan standing in the doorway, Master Siri behind him. Master Obi-Wan had scowled at Anakin, and then requested a private moment, making Ferus smile to himself.

His master cleared her throat; he looked up to find her frowning with disapproval. He ducked his head and meekly offered Vyxn the drink he had promised her. She took it distractedly with a slight glance and nod to him, then he had found himself ignored as her attention had moved solely to Master Obi-Wan. Ferus had retreated back to his seat and buried his head back into his datapad lesson and surreptitiously observed Anakin's reaction. Anakin had noticed her diverted attention also, and after Master Obi-Wan had finished speaking to him and he had nodded in uncomfortable acquiescence, Anakin had sat back in his own seat and watched her watch his master. He didn't look happy.

As Ferus remembered these things, he felt ashamed. They weren't acting like Jedi, but like overly hormonal school boys vying for the same girl. His master had explained later that it was because of her being a Sirenian, and the power they could hold over males, including Jedi, though it didn't make him feel any better. He vowed to himself that he would be more careful, and not allow her wiles to affect him so much. With these thoughts in mind, he finally drifted to sleep.

Vyxn stood in the doorway wearing only a white frilly robe. Her blonde curls draped seductively down her slim shoulders, her red lips pursed and then her tongue traced the lip line of her mouth as she closed Obi-Wan's door behind her and began walking slowly toward him.

"What are you doing here?" Obi-Wan finally sputtered. The scent of her perfume mixed with the natural scent she was emitting made him feel suddenly lightheaded.

"Master Kenobi, you know what I'm here for, don't you?" she purred softly.

A cloud descended on his mind making his thinking confused and hazy, transforming the room into a cage and he a trapped animal within it. There didn't seem to be a way out. He remembered past missions where he had been surrounded by droids or imprisoned in small cells and he thought that he had felt less trapped then than now. Whatever she was doing was overtaking him.

He was dismayed that his usually ordered mind was becoming increasingly disordered. How could one seemingly harmless girl affect him so much? Because she is not harmless, his distracted mind answered. He suddenly had an irrational desire to laugh. He managed to suppress it as he tried to think of something. He knew he had abilities, if only he could remember what they were.

He finally had an idea. He raised his hand and waved it slightly as he said, "You don't want to be here. You want to go to your own quarters and go to sleep."

She laughed softly. "That doesn't work with me, Lover. Good try though." She approached him slowly, like a feline stalking her prey, hungry eyes wide and piercing, shining with eager, unbridled lust. She slowly undid the sash around her robe.

Obi-Wan's thoughts seemed to shift and dissolve as the perfumed atmosphere in the room intoxicated him. He stood like an Alderanian deer caught in a speeder's lights. He felt almost paralyzed, watching her as she slowly descended on him. In desperation, he reached out and tried to sense Anakin, to call for help in their bond, but he seemed to be dead to the world.

He decided that maybe Anakin wasn't the one he should call on anyway. He tightened his shields to keep his padawan from sensing him, then he searched for Siri, but in his muddled state he couldn't seem to find her. Panic began to well inside of him as his body began to react to the strong aromas she emitted into the room. Desire began to ignite deep within him. He shook his head against it, but found it nearly impossible to fight

She spoke as she drew closer to him. "You know I can shield myself. I've shielded this room also. Thats why you didn't know when I came into the room. Everyone else is sleeping, and no one can sense what is happening here. Just relax, Lover, I won't bite - much."

She licked her lips again and reached her hands out to him. He backed away from her until he bumped against the wall of his quarters.

"My shields should be able to block her - I'm a Jedi!" he thought to himself, but suddenly he couldn't remember what that was or why it was important.

Her loosened robe began to slip from her shoulders. She smiled as Obi-Wan's eyes widened and a whisper of a thought broke through the fog in his mind: "Fight this." With an effort he tried to look away from her.

"Oh no you don't," she chided. She grabbed his face in her hands and turned it toward her. He didn't know why his head seemed to be spinning, and why he seemed to not be able to focus on anything but her. Her large green eyes stared into him; called to him, and his body fought to respond to her call. She let go of his face, confident now that she had his complete attention. She shifted her shoulders a bit more and the robe dropped to the floor. Obi-Wan's pounding heart was in his throat as his eyes gazed on exposed skin gleaming in the soft light of his quarters; soft curves and supple breasts causing his mind to fill with thoughts he hadn't allowed since adolescence. He trembled slightly as he felt his body heat rise.

He was mesmerized. His mind was trying desperately to remember why this shouldn't be happening. She reached again for his face and slowly traced his cheeks and jawline with her thumbs. Her hands dropped to the collar of his tunic and then she abruptly pulled it off. Then she ran her hands over his exposed chest, giggling in delight.

"Mmmm, so muscular," she breathed. His breath came faster and he was close to panting. Her soft touches sent his physical senses into flashes of fiery excitement. His eyes were glued to her face; his blood began to boil. Despite his efforts to resist her, his body leaned into her touches and as her hands swept over his sleep pants, his hips moved toward her and desire swept over him like a burning tidal wave. It took every ounce of strength he had not to forget everything he had ever held dear and sweep her into his arms. But still he refused to totally give in to her. He pressed his hands hard against the wall behind him to keep them from wrapping around her.

"Why are you resisting me?" she pouted, her lips pressed together so seductively as her hands moved over his chest and then began to go lower. "I know what will work. This never fails."

Her tongue flicked over his chest as her breasts brushed against his belly. He quivered, his breath coming in hitches. Her tongue then traced circles on his belly as her hands slipped down, just going into the top of his sleep pants. She began to pull on them, letting her tongue follow her hands downward. .

Obi-Wan's head slammed against the wall as he gasped. His mind was a fog, desperately fighting the passion now raging in his own body and fighting to remember what was important to him. Siri's face suddenly flashed before his eyes.

Siri.

He remember when they were still padawans and had declared their love for each other. They had chosen to put aside that love to be Jedi, but she was still very much a part of his life. He treasured her friendship, knowing that underneath lay a dormant something both hoped they might be able to openly express someday.

The fog in his mind lifted a little.

Then he thought of Qui-Gon and the years training with him. He thought of Anakin; the young boy placed in his care with a promise to his dying master and who he now loved and cared for like a son or a younger brother. He thought of Yoda and the many times he sat at his feet, listening to his wisdom.

And finally he thought of the code and the countless times over the years he had recited it.

"There is no emotion, there is peace.

There is no ignorance, there is knowledge.

There is no passion, there is serenity.

There is no death, there is the force."

She stopped and looked at him, puzzled. He hadn't realized he had said it out loud, but his head was now clearing. The spell was broken. He felt the force come to him suddenly, and with a firm " NO!" he grabbed her shoulders and pushed her away. He hadn't meant to push her as hard as he did, but she landed on the floor with a hard thud.

She blinked at him in shock. "No?" she muttered incredulously.

"Thats what I said. Now get out of here!" His voice sounded shaky and rough, his throat raw.

A flash of anger suddenly marred her pretty features, then was just as suddenly swept away. Her face became like stone, hiding the emotion seething inside her. She was not used to being turned down when her inticements reached to this level.

"Get out, NOW!" Obi-Wan said fiercely, realizing the urgency in his voice spoke of the now regained but fragile control that barely kept him from sweeping her into his arms even now. His body was still taut with flaming desire, his skin moist and glistening in the soft light of the room. He was breathing heavily and his face contorted in the agony of unreleased passion, but he would not allow her this. Not her. Not ever.

With trembling hands he pulled his sleep pants back into place and then shakily bent down and picked up her robe; the perfume from it nearly overcame him. Disgust twisted his face as he threw it at her.

"NOW!" he roared at her.

Fear crossed her face for only a moment as she picked herself up and headed for the door, but when she got there she glanced back at him with a hateful glare, then walked out.

Obi-Wan stumbled awkwardly to the door and slammed it closed and locked it, relief and exhaustion suddenly overtaking him. He slid to the floor, his head resting against the cool door. Sweat mixed with tears streamed down his face. He panted hard, gasping for air and trying to catch his breath.

His blood still churned with hot desire as the alluring scent she left in the room still wafted around his nose. He crawled over to the refresher door and reached up with his hand and flipped the switch to the air vents. As the cool air filled the room and filtered the heavy scent of her out of it, his fragile control wavered and he groaned. His hands tightened into fists and balled up under his chin as he huddled on the floor and leaned his head against the wall. He was still gasping for air. He suddenly realized he was weeping and he shook with sobs even as his body found it's own release.

With an effort he finally regained control over his emotion and stood although his body still trembled. He leaned against the wall and took a deep breath to shake his mind from the rest of the cobwebs.

He punched the wall with his fist as resentment arose against her and against his own body's betrayal.

On trembling feet he bolted to the refresher, punched the power switch to the shower and wrenched on the cold water - as cold as he could stand it. He threw himself inside, sleep pants and all. After a few moments he slipped out of the soaked pants and let them fall to the floor of the shower as he allowed the cold water to cascade over him for several long minutes, cleansing away the evidence of his body's betrayal and the stench of her.

He was glad this vessel had a water recycling system, because he didn't come out until he felt normal again.

Vyxn stomped toward her quarters, disappointment seething in her. She had been so close! She had her hands on him, she almost had him! She fumed.

"I'll show him," she thought angrily as she reached her quarters. "Ill...I'll seduce his Padawan..how would he like that?" She stepped in to find her comm unit blinking.

Sighing, she opened it.

"Where have you been?" A gruff, deep male voice demanded when their comm was opened.

She had forgotten. She was to have been in her room an hour ago to receive his communication.

"Um..I was.."

"Seducing the Jedi, weren't you? Don't deny it," he spat as she had tried to feign a shocked, offended look. "I know you too well, Vyxn. Which one was it? The doctor or the bearded one? I know not even you are stupid enough to mess with Padawans."

"The..the bearded one,." she stammered, subdued. She had worked for him for a few years, using her wiles to get information for him, spying and other odd jobs. He knew her well and that she couldn't resist a challenge if one presented itself. He had succumbed to her when they had first met, but now he along with his partners had employed her in their operation. He kept bodyguards and other females around him at all times when she was near and only took her favors when he wanted to. He really didn't care if she pursued other conquests as long as she got the job done.

"Never mind that. Did you find anything out?"

"Yes, the doctor seems to have figured out at least part of your scheme. He has a data pad with information about the virus you brought to the planet. He's going to present it to their Council and it will likely be turned over to the Senate."

"You get that datapad, finish the job and get out! You don't have time for any more games, you're only 24 hours from reaching Coruscant. You don't want to land there. After you have escaped, get to the nearest moon or some place where you can comm me with your location and I'll pick you up."

"Ok, I'll finish everything in the morning," she promised. The comm ended and she angrily kicked the table next to the sleep couch. Darn Jedi, why couldn't he have just given in to her. Now she was out of time.

She smiled to herself as she thought about what to do.

"I'll fix him, and his girlfriend," she said to herself. She nodded in satisfaction. "I'll fix him good and break her heart in the process."

She made herself busy, getting supplies out of her bag. She spent the rest of the sleep cycle working on her plan.

TBC