by Anna Zaires
“If that’s the only time, then yes.”
Mia stared at John in shock, unable to believe he was asking her to do this. “John,” she said slowly, “I’m not some femme fatale who can just do stuff like this. The last time, when I thought that Korum had caught me, I was completely freaking out. I’m not cut out to be a spy, not even close. And Korum knows me by now – if I suddenly start acting weirdly, he’ll catch on right away –”
“Look, I understand that it’s not going to be easy. You’re right – you’re not a seasoned agent. But you’re literally our last hope. The Keiths believe that Korum is getting closer to figuring out who they are. He knows that we’re getting help from the inside, and the Keiths think that their ruling council will not look kindly on those who pose a threat to the Centers here. At best, they’re looking at forced deportation to Krina and some serious punishment there. At worst, well . . .”
“John,” said Mia wearily, feeling the beginnings of a headache, “I just can’t –”
“Mia, please, just wear the ring. That’s all I will ask you to do. If you get an opportunity, great. If not, well, at least we will have tried.”
“And if I get caught wearing this device? If Korum is as brilliant as you say, won’t he recognize their technology from a mile away?”
“He has no reason to suspect you. You’re just his charl. He won’t be expecting a threat from you. And here, see, the ring is truly nice-looking. You could claim that it’s a gift from your sister if he asks.”
Mia stared at the device. The little silver circle was thin and stylish, and it probably wouldn’t look out of place on her finger. To confirm that theory, she extended her hand. “All right, let me try it on – see if it’s even my size.”
John gave her the ring with a relieved smile. Mia slid it on the middle finger of her right hand. It fit perfectly. If she hadn’t known its purpose, she would have never thought it was anything other than a simple piece of jewelry. She hoped that Korum would be fooled as easily.
With his mission accomplished, John rose to his feet. “Mia,” he said, “I hope you realize that if this works, if you succeed, then our species will enter into an entirely new era. We will have our planet back, and our freedom. And we will have a lot more knowledge – science and technology that we wouldn’t have had for hundreds or maybe thousands more years. You will be a hero, your name written in the history books for generations to come –”
Mia felt chills going down her spine.
“– and you will have nothing to fear from him again, ever. And girls like my sister will finally be reunited with their families, and they would be able to lead normal lives again – as will you.”
He painted a compelling picture, but Mia couldn’t imagine how she could possibly bring something like this pass. “John,” she said, “I’ll try. That’s all I can promise you.”
“That’s all I want.” He put his hand on her shoulder and gave it a reassuring squeeze. “Good luck.”
And then he walked away, leaving Mia with the alien device that was supposed to determine the future of humankind sitting innocuously on her finger.
Chapter 16
Jessie joined Mia in the park a few minutes later. “Ugh,” she said, “I hate BioChem. So glad that torture is over.”
Mia smiled at her. “No one said it’s easy being a pre-med.”
“Yes, well, not all of us chose the easy route with a psych major –”
“Easy, please! I have to write three papers by Thursday, and I’m only done with one so far!”
“My heart bleeds for you . . . it really does –”
“Oh shut up,” said Mia, and they both grinned at each other.
“So what are you doing now? Going to the library?” asked Jessie, wrinkling her nose.
“Nah, I think I’ll head back to Korum’s place. All my books and stuff are there now –”
Jessie’s expression immediately darkened. “Of course. I should’ve known.”
“Jessie,” said Mia tiredly, “please don’t give me a hard time over this. One way or another, I’m sure this relationship will be over soon –”
“Mia, is there something you’re not telling me?” Jessie was looking at her suspiciously.
“No! I just meant that I will be going home to Florida – and he may not want to continue seeing me when I return, that’s all.”
“You’ve talked to him about this already?”
Mia shook her head. “I’ll do it tonight.”
“Okay, good luck with that. Let me know how that goes.” She paused and then added, “Oh, and by the way, Edgar said that Peter’s been asking about you.”
“What? Why?”
Jessie shrugged. “I guess he’s suicidal. That, or he really likes you. It’s hard to tell, you know?”
“Is he feeling better now?”
Jessie nodded. “He seems to be fine, just some residual bruising.”
“Well, I’m glad. Listen, tell Edgar that Peter should just forget about my existence. If it’s ever safe, when this thing with Korum is over, I’ll contact him myself.”
Jessie promised to do so, and they chatted some more about Edgar. Jessie was supposed to see him tonight, and Mia again envied the ease and simplicity of her roommate’s life.
Mia was now literally wearing the fate of her species on her finger, and the burden felt far heavier than the light silver circle could ever be on its own.
* * *
That night, Korum made dinner for them again. After agonizing over the best way to approach summer plans, Mia decided to just tell him straight out. First, though, she wanted to make sure that he would be in a good mood and receptive to the idea.
The dinner was delicious as usual. Mia gladly consumed another creatively made salad – she had definitely developed a taste for them – and a bean crepe wrapped in seaweed with a spicy mushroom sauce.
If she succeeded in her mission, there would be no more dinners like this. Korum would be forced to go back to Krina – if he even survived the attack on their settlements.
At that thought, Mia felt a strange squeezing sensation in her chest. She didn’t want him killed. He might be the enemy, but she didn’t want to see him get hurt in any way.
Furiously thinking about this, she resolved to ask John to grant Korum safe passage – if she did get her hands on the data. Of course, even the thought of him simply leaving the planet was oddly agonizing. You silly twit, he did manage to get under your skin.
“A penny for your thoughts,” teased Korum, apparently noticing the introspective look on Mia’s face.
“Um, I’m just thinking about all the stuff I still have to do before the end of the week – turn in all those papers and then start packing . . .” Mia let her voice trail off. It seemed like a good segue into what she wanted to discuss today.
“Packing?” A slight frown appeared on his smooth forehead.
“Yes, well, you know the semester will be over soon,” Mia said cautiously, her heart rate beginning to increase. “After finals, I have to go home, to Florida, to see my parents, and then I have an internship in Orlando –”
His expression visibly darkened. “And when were you going to tell me about this?” His voice was deceptively calm.
Mia slowly chewed the last bite of her food and swallowed it. “I thought you knew everything about me already, including my summer plans.” The evenness of her tone matched his, despite the pounding of her heart.
“The background check I did on you a month ago was not sufficiently comprehensive, I guess,” he said, still dangerously calm.
Mia shrugged. “I guess not.” She was proud of how bravely she was handling this discussion. Maybe she would make a decent spy yet.
“I don’t want you to go,” he said quietly. His eyes were taking on that golden tint that she now associated with all kinds of strong emotions.
“Korum, I have to.” Mia tried to think of ways to convince him. “I have to see my parents and sister – she’s pregn
ant, actually – and then I have a really good internship lined up at a local camp, where I would be a counselor for children who are going through a difficult time . . .”
He just looked at her, his lack of expression scaring her more than any outward anger.
“All right,” he said. “I will take you to see your family this summer . . . just not next week. I can’t leave New York quite yet. And if you want, I will find you an internship here as well, something within your field that you would enjoy.”
Mia felt a cold sensation radiating from her core all the way down to her toes. Up until now, even though she knew he regarded her as his pleasure toy, their relationship had a semblance of normality. He might have considered her his human pet, but she could still pretend he was her boyfriend – an arrogant and domineering one, for sure . . . but still just a boyfriend. Now that illusion was broken. If he really did go so far as to disregard her summer plans made months in advance, then he had absolutely no respect for her rights as a person – and probably no qualms about keeping her as his charl indefinitely, until he got bored with her.
Her fists were tightly clenched on the table, she noticed, and she forced herself to relax her fingers before proceeding. “And when you’re done with your business in New York,” she asked quietly, “what happens then?”
He regarded her with a level gaze. “Why don’t we cross that bridge when we come to it?” he suggested gently. “That might not be for a while.”
“No,” said Mia, past the point of caring. “I want to cross that bridge now. If your business gets done next week, what would happen then?”
He didn’t answer.
Mia could feel herself getting even colder inside. Slowly getting up from the table, she searched for something to say. There was really nothing. She wanted to yell and scream and throw something at him, but that would not accomplish anything. The clueless Mia that she was supposed to be would not read anything particularly sinister into his silence. It was only Mia the spy who knew what could happen to a girl that a K regarded as his charl.
So she acted the way he would expect any normal girl to act when her boyfriend was being unreasonable. “Korum,” she told him with a stubborn expression on her face, “I’m going to Florida this summer – and that’s that. I have a life that doesn’t just revolve around you. I made these plans months before I knew you, and I can’t change things around just because you want me to –”
“Mia,” he said softly, “you can change things around and you will. If you try to leave at the end of the week, I will stop you. Do you understand me?”
She did. She understood him perfectly. But the Mia she was pretending to be wouldn’t.
“What, you’re going to prevent me from getting on the airplane? That’s ridiculous,” she said, even as her stomach twisted with fear.
“Of course,” he said. “All I have to do is make one phone call, and your name will be on a no-fly list at all your human airports.”
She stared at him in shock. Somehow, she hadn’t expected him to go to such lengths to detain her. She figured he might lock her in the apartment or something. But it made perfect sense . . . Why do something as crude as physically restraining her when he could simply exercise his power with the U.S. government?
She felt tears welling up in her eyes, and she held them back with great effort. “I hate you,” she told him, barely able to speak past the constriction in her chest. And she really did in that moment. If she’d had any doubts about helping the Resistance, they dissolved as she stared at his uncompromising expression. He had no right to do this to her, to take over her life like that – and his kind deserved exactly what they got. If Mia could really make a difference in the fight against the Ks, then she had an obligation to do so – even if it meant losing her life in the process.
He got up then and came toward her. “You don’t hate me,” he said in a silky tone. “You may wish you did, but you don’t . . .” He grasped her chin, forcing her to meet his gaze. His eyes were nearly yellow at this point. “You’re mine,” he said quietly, “and you’re not going anywhere without me. The sooner you come to terms with it, my darling, the easier it will be for you.”
And so the gloves had come off then. He was not going to hide his true colors any longer.
Mia’s fists clenched with impotent rage.
“I’m not coming to terms with anything,” she hissed at him. “I’m a human being. I have rights. You can’t order me around like this –”
“That’s right, Mia,” he said in that same dangerously smooth tone. “You’re a human being – the creation of my kind. We made you. If it weren’t for the Krinar, your species would not exist at all. Your people came up with all kinds of imaginary deities to worship, to explain how you came to be on this Earth. The things you have done in the name of your so-called gods are simply preposterous. But we are your true creators – we made you in our image. The only reason you have the rights you think you have is because we choose to let you have them. And we’ve been extremely lenient with your species, interfering as little as possible since we came to your planet.” He leaned closer to her. “So if I want to keep one little human girl with me, and I have to order her around because she’s too inexperienced to realize that what we have is very special – well, then, that’s the way it’s going to be.”
Mia could barely think past the fury clouding her brain. Staring up at his beautiful face, she felt a surge of hatred so strong that she would have gladly stabbed him in that moment if she’d had a knife nearby. “Screw you,” she told him bitterly, taking a step back to avoid his touch. “You and your kind should just go back to whatever hell you came from and leave us the fuck alone.”
He smiled sardonically in response, letting her go for the moment. “That’s not going to happen, Mia. We’re here and we’re staying – you might as well get used to it.”
No, they weren’t. Mia would make sure of that.
But he couldn’t know that yet, so she said nothing, just looking up at him in defiance.
“And Mia,” he added gently, “I can be very nice . . . or not – it’s really up to you.”
“Fuck you,” she told him furiously, and watched his eyes flare even brighter.
“Oh, you will – and gladly.” He smiled in anticipation.
Mia wanted to hit him. If he thought she would melt into a puddle at his touch, he had another thing coming. Unless . . .
“Fine,” she said slowly, “but I call the shots tonight.” And she smiled back at him, ignoring the rapid beating of her heart.
His eyes glittered with sudden interest. “Oh really? And why is that?”
“Because that’s the only way I’m having sex with you tonight . . . willingly, I mean.” Her smile took on a taunting edge. “You can always force me, of course – maybe even make me enjoy it. But I will always hate you for it . . . and you will ultimately regret it.”
“Okay,” he said softly, the bulge in his pants growing before her eyes, “let’s pretend you’re calling the shots . . . What would you like to do?”
Mia moistened her suddenly dry lips with the tip of her tongue and watched his eyes follow the motion with a hungry look. “Let’s go into the bedroom,” she said huskily, and walked past him, making the safe assumption that he would follow her there.
Chapter 17
They entered the room.
Mia walked over to the bed and sat down on it, fully dressed. He was about to do the same, but she stopped him with a shake of her head. “Not yet,” she murmured, and watched him pause in response.
“I want you to take off your clothes,” she said quietly, and waited to see what would happen.
To her surprise and growing excitement, he did as she asked, removing his T-shirt with one smoothly controlled motion. She inhaled sharply, the sight of his muscular half-naked body making her inner muscles clench with desire. Watching her with an amused half-smile, he unzipped his jeans and lowered them to the floor, stepping out of them gracefully. H
is erection was now covered only by a pair of briefs, and Mia could feel herself getting even wetter inside.
“Okay,” he said softly, “now what?”
Mia’s heart was galloping in her chest. “Lie down on the bed,” she said, hoping she didn’t sound as nervous as she felt.
He smiled and obeyed, sprawling out on his back, his hands behind his head.
Mia got up and started taking off her own clothes, watching the bulge in his briefs growing even larger as she shimmied out of her jeans and unbuttoned her shirt. Still wearing her bra and underwear, she climbed on top of him, straddling his hips. All of a sudden, he no longer looked amused, his entire body tensing up as her loins pressed against his erection, with only the two layers of underwear standing in the way of his cock.
Mia smiled triumphantly and put her hands on his chest, feeling the powerful muscles bunching under her fingers. The game she was playing was incredibly dangerous, yet she couldn’t help but be aroused by the control she was exerting over her normally dominant lover. Running her hands over his chest, she leaned forward and touched the flat masculine nipple with her tongue, loving the way his penis jumped beneath her at the simple action.
“Give me your hands,” she whispered, her hair brushing against his naked chest. He reached for her, but she intercepted him, grabbing his wrists. His eyebrows rose in surprise, but he let her stop him, observing her actions with a heavy-lidded amber gaze.
She twined her fingers with his and pressed his hands into the pillow above his head, as though her small human hands could contain his Krinar strength for even a second. His eyes burned brighter with lust, but he did not resist, letting her hold him captive for now. She leaned closer to him and kissed his neck, and he arched beneath her with a sharp hiss. Reveling in his response, she lightly scraped the area with her teeth and was rewarded with a low growl. Rising up a bit, she repeated the action on the other side of his neck. By now, his body was nearly vibrating with tension, and she wondered hazily how much longer he would allow her to tease him like that. Still holding his hands, she kissed him on the lips, her tongue tentatively entering his mouth, searching for his own appendage. He kissed her back with barely controlled aggression, and she sucked lightly on his tongue, causing him to buck underneath her. Leaving his mouth, she nibbled his neck again, focusing on the tightly corded muscle connecting it to his shoulder, and he groaned as though in pain.
