The General with whom he and his brothers did occasional work had called them up, asking them to take a special case. One that involved children.
Normally they would have turned him down, but his mated brothers looked like they would jump at the chance to save the children. If this is what happens when a male mates, then it was good that he had been skipped.
The General was not the altruistic type. He had not been concerned about smuggled children in general. He had been concerned with one particular missing child. She had been swept up by the child abduction ring when she had been playing in an area that her father, the prince of a country he had never heard of, would have never let her be in. Unfortunately, he had been away and the young child had slipped her guards in search of friends her age to play with. He was sure those guards would never work again in that country, if they had survived the prince arriving home.
According to the General, a show of good will in returning the princess would go far in making sure the prince was beholden to the U.S Government and the General in particular.
He scanned the bar again looking for the informant who was late. It was the smell that hit him first. It was subtle, reminding him of the floral scent on the planet from whence he had originated.
The soft smell tickled his nose, making him seek out the source. He spotted her immediately. She was not beautiful by human standards, but she already called to him.
She was small, standing around five three, with short brown hair cut close to her head. Her body was small, but well proportioned. She stood straight with the at ease posture of a soldier.
She slid onto the bar stool next to his and ordered a drink. She looked at him and gave him a small smile. Her blue green eyes took him in, starting at the top of his head and sweeping down to his feet.
“Hi.” Her voice did something to him, making him shift uncomfortably.
“Hello.” He replied.
Her drink was placed in front of her. He inhaled deeply to analyze it. It was not liquor, but one of the various soft drinks that humans insisted on drinking. She had not come to the bar looking to lose herself in the bottom of a glass.
Was she his contact?
“What brings you here?” She asked, her voice part warm and sultry and part military precision.
“I was hoping to meet someone here.” He replied, sticking as close to the truth as possible. “What brings you out?”
“I was looking for a male.”
Her words beckoned him to get closer. His heightened aggressive state demanded that he get closer, and find out exactly what she needed. It was the sight of her laying broken and still before him that stopped his beast cold.
He pulled away. He had a job to do. Then he would return home to the cold comfort of his family.
“You have come to the right place. There are many males around. I am sure you will find one to your liking.”
She glanced around the bar, dismissing all she saw, until her eyes landed on him.
“I am looking for a specific male. One that may know about missing children.” Her voice had lowered on the last part, not wanting anyone to overhear her.
“Why would that male be interested in you, knowing that you are not his contact?”
She didn’t answer immediately. Instead she swept the room again, allowing her intriguing eyes to pin everyone for a few silent seconds, before looking back at him.
“Because I knows what you are and who you are and I don’t care. All I want is to make sure the children are taken to a safe place.”
She was military. He was sure of it. He looked at her hands. They were reddened from being stationed in a hot, dry climate. He looked at her face. The creamy paleness of it was broken by a few blotches of sun damage that the normal eye might not have seen.
Her short brown hair had spent too many days under the beating sun. She was military, but no longer serving. Her stance was a shade too relaxed and even her caution spoke of someone who had not been actively hunted in a while.
Her body was gaunt, in need of meals that she had missed. Her post military life had not been the best, yet she was concerned about others more than herself. She had intrigued him.
“What am I?”
She looked down, not meeting his eyes. Until that moment, she had been bold and confident. What could have happened to change that?
“You are not human.”
“Do you tell that to every male you meet? A casual pick up line?”
“But you are good. You blend in well. You do not drink alcohol because it makes you aggressive without the benefit of getting drunk. You and your kind do not need any help in the aggressive department.”
“Many males become aggressive without the benefit of having alcohol to blame it on.”
She nodded her head in agreement.
“No human male I know harbors a beast inside, one that he is not only able to call on, but able to become.”
“You have read too many of your fairy tales.”
“I have spent too much time in the hot desert, seeing things that are impossible and being the good little solider. I have bit my lip at injustices I could not right, even the ones that happened to me. I can right this. I can make sure these little ones who did nothing wrong, but play carefree are taken care of. All I need is your help.”
“How did you know where to find me?”
“Your former informant talks too much and he drinks too much. A pretty face was all it took to sway him.”
He nodded. He had seen more than one informant unable to hold onto his information.
“Where is the informant now?”
“Sleeping it off in a motel.”
“What information did he pass along to you?”
She slid off of the bar stool, landing next to him. She lowered her head and spoke softly, giggling as if she was trying to impress him.
“He said that for the right price, he would tell you that a boat was coming in tonight. That in the cargo hold you would find the package you were looking for.”
“Did he have any more useful information? A time, a berth, the name of the vessel?”
She nodded her head.
“Are you interested in the fee he would have been paid for this information?”
“Keep the money. I am in it for the safety of the children. All of the children.”
“Then I need the rest of the information.”
“How can one male keep all of the children safe?”
“According to you, I am more than human. That should make it easy to keep them safe.”
She moved her head in a disapproving no. “There will be too many people there with guns and orders to shoot to kill for any one person to keep the children safe.”
She was tough. He found himself liking that about her. She would fight to the end, even if it meant sacrificing her own life. She reminded him of his brothers and himself and even their mates. They were willing to put the family first.
“What would you have me do, if I am not enough to save your precious children?”
“Accept help.”
“Who would want to help?”
“Me.”
His lips twitched. That should only happen around his brothers with their bickering or his new sisters who were out to make them all laugh, if they were not driving them crazy.
“As you pointed out, it will be dangerous. A mission I may not come back from.”
He was baiting her he acknowledged. He would definitely return from the mission with all of the children whole.
“Tell me where you can be reached, and once they are safe, I will call you to come collect them.” How many of them could there be?
She shook her head, her stubborn blue green eyes alight with fire. He was captivated by her eyes. Again he felt his aggressive side reach for her. He pulled himself in. He must not hurt the frail human.
“I am going with you.” Her slender finger stabbed him in the chest as she said each word.
Table of Contents
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-one
Chapter Twenty-two
Chapter Twenty-three
Chapter Twenty-four
Chapter Twenty-five
Chapter Twenty-six
Chapter Twenty-seven
Chapter Twenty-eight
Chapter Twenty-nine
Chapter Thirty
Chapter One - Sergey Excerpt
Niko: Love me Harder - Alien Paranormal Romance Page 15
