ESAN

by KD Jones

  “Sssorry I’m late. I couldn’t find a thing to wear.”

  She was obviously seeking a compliment on her appearance, but he was hungry for lunch so he ignored the hint on purpose. He opened the door for her and let her enter first. The cafe was one in which they seated themselves, and the waiter would come and get the order. A human male waiter approached them.

  “May I get you something to drink?”

  “Water for me,” Esan told him.

  “Do you have a wine lissst of your bessst winesss?”

  He raised an eyebrow at her request but didn’t say anything as the waiter left to get her a wine menu. It wasn’t so much that she wanted wine at lunch time — it was how she asked for the best. He remembered that last evening she had admired his watch and asked questions about where he purchased it and how much it cost.

  “Why don’t you get usss a bottle of wine and share with me?” she suggested.

  “I can’t. I have a fight tonight.”

  “Oh, that’sss right. Do you have a houssse somewhere?”

  Esan thought surely she would ask him about his profession, but she didn’t. “I have a sssuite.”

  “I mean, when your little fightsss are over and you take a break, where do you live?”

  “Here on board the GCFA ship.”

  “All the time?”

  “Yesss.”

  “But ... if you mate you will surely get a houssse on our home world to live. And when you do, I know the bessst areasss. My father isss a realtor. He can get usss into a luxury neighborhood where only the bessst of the bessst live.”

  “I may eventually get a home off ship, but for now, thisss isss where I will live with my mate.” He watched as her face pinched with distaste. She had not said anything to him the previous night about not wanting to move. In fact, she talked about how exciting it must be to travel on such a luxurious ship. “I believe on your profile that you ssstated you were willing to relocate.”

  “I thought relocating meant to a different neighborhood or region on the planet. I don’t know about living here on a ship for real. I could visssit here but staying here permanently would be a problem.”

  Now he was disappointed that she had wasted his time. There could have been another female who did want to relocate here and this female had not been forthright with her answers. All the other females had understood relocating meant moving to the GCFA ship. The rest of the lunch went by awkwardly. At the end, he walked with her out of the cafe.

  “Thank you for a lovely lunch,” she said.

  “Thank you for ssstaying another day, but I don’t believe thisss isss going to work for usss.”

  She tried to make some excuses about giving it another try, but he refused to change his mind on the situation. It caused her to lose her temper in front of a lobby full of people. Esan didn’t have time for her tantrum and simply walked away from her.

  Chapter 16

  Fight night

  The GCFA commentators were giving a play by play during the fight.

  “Poland, the crowd is screaming with anticipation to see what Esan the Deadly will do next. That Priman made a mistake with that last move, hitting Esan in his knee. He signed his own death warrant.”

  “Oh my God, Johann! Did you see the punch in the face that Esan just gave the Priman?”

  “Holy shit! Esan is jabbing him left ... right ... left ... right. The Priman is down for the count! He’s out! Esan the Deadly has proved that no one will take him down once again.”

  “What a great fight!”

  *****

  Nina watched the fight from the VIP section. It was her first time watching a live match, and she had to admit it was violent but exciting. She was extremely impressed with how Esan handled himself in the cage. He wasn’t as much of a showman as others; he was a no-nonsense type of fighter. He got in there and out promptly. That’s how she worked her events…minus the violence and all the blood.

  The crowd went crazy when Esan slammed his Priman opponent into the fence and began punching the daylights out of him. Blood had splashed out into the VIP section. It made her grateful to be wearing black. The staff gave everyone in the VIP section a towel when they first sat down and now she understood why. Not everyone enjoyed the action, however.

  “I’m going to be sssick,” a Reptan female said as she made her way out of the VIP section and headed toward the bathrooms. It was one of the women that Esan had picked to remain on board. Nina felt obligated to check on the female, so she followed her.

  “Are you okay?” she asked as she entered the bathroom. The Reptan had gotten into a stall right before she threw up. Yuck! She wanted to turn around and leave but she did feel sorry for the woman. Clearly she wasn’t used to this kind of event. Blood didn’t really bother Nina. She had six sisters and they all played rough growing up.

  “No, I’m not all right! I should have lissstened to my family about coming here. It wasss a missstake. They told me Esssan wasss not a quality male. They sssaid that he wouldn’t be good enough for me. He isss a brute! I made a missstake.”

  Nina wanted to push the female’s head in the toilet and give her a swirly for what she said about Esan. Instead, she held back and stayed professional. “Can I get you anything?”

  “Yesss, a ticket off thisss ship.”

  “I will be happy to do that right away.” Good riddance. Esan didn’t need a woman who couldn’t even watch him fight. He took pride in his career and deserved a woman who stood by him completely.

  “Are you going to go to the banquet to let him know you’re leaving?”

  The Reptan female came out of the stall looking worse than when she went in. “You tell him. I’m done with thisss.”

  She didn’t even offer an apology. Nina narrowed her eyes as she responded, “Very well.” Nina called the front desk of the ship and requested an immediate departure for the woman. When she got off the phone, she told her, “You’re booked to leave in an hour. Good luck.” She turned and walked away. Nina was going to have to let Esan know what had happened. She was not looking forward to that.

  *****

  Esan was released from the healers and had time to shower and change before heading to the banquet. His next date, Teni, had been given a VIP ticket to watch his fight and an invitation to the after-fight banquet. Teni had short, spiky red hair. What drew him to her was her size.

  Almost all the Reptan females he knew were tall with an athletic build. Teni was shorter reminding him a little of his sister. When he saw Teni being pushed aside by the towering females, he felt protective of her. She was shy, and out of the two of them, he ended up being the most talkative. He wanted to see her in a more comfortable setting so that she would open up and tell him more about herself. That was why he had offered for her to stay.

  The banquet doors were open, and he could hear music and laughter. Before he reached the doors, he heard someone calling his name.

  “Esan!”

  He turned around to find Nina walking toward him. At the sight of her, his breath caught in his chest. In fact, he might have stopped breathing altogether. Nina was wearing a black, form-fitting, sleeveless dress that clung to her curvy figure. Her hair was swept up on top of her head with curly tendrils cascading down to her shoulders. She was wearing makeup that was done just right to highlight her beautiful eyes and lips — which he knew for a fact were delicious. A female who looked like that deserved a compliment.

  “You look beautiful.”

  “Thank you.” She seemed surprised by his compliment. “I wanted to let you know, the Reptan female named Teni notified me that she would not make it tonight, she is leaving to go home.”

  “Did she sssay why?”

  Nina hesitated wanting to make sure she told him in a way that did not hurt him. “She said something about this not being the lifestyle she wanted. Perhaps watching the fight was too much for her to handle.”

  He was little disappointed to hear that. “Thisss lifestyle may not fit any fem
ale. I should probably just give up finding a mate altogether.”

  Nina placed hand on his arm. “Don’t say that. No one is perfect, but I believe there’s someone out there for everyone. You just have to find the right person for you.”

  “Isss there sssomeone out there for you?” He couldn’t help but ask. She blushed a lovely shade of pink.

  “I don’t know ... but I hope that there is.”

  “May I essscort you inssside?” He offered her his arm.

  She smiled as she took it. “Thank you.”

  Once inside, she excused herself to go check on how everything was running with the banquet staff. He watched her as she made her way around the room. People seemed to like her, the males in the room especially. They would stop her to say something, often making her laugh. He was envious of those males because he knew how delightful her laugh was.

  “How did the gathering thing go?”

  He turned to face Nigel. “What?”

  “I asked how things went with your gathering.”

  “Oh, it went fine.”

  “And Nina Sinclair?”

  “What about her?”

  “Did she do a good job?”

  “Of courssse she did. She isss a complete professional.”

  “I’m only asking because you’ve been stalking my even coordinator since the two of you came into the banquet together. Is there something between the two of you I should know about?”

  “No, but if there wasss sssomething, it wouldn’t be your busssinesss. No offenssse.” Esan said.

  “No offense taken.”

  He hesitated not sure if he should say anything but he was confused and needed another male to talk to. There was no way in hell he would ask Zen. “Nigel, how did you know?”

  “Know what?”

  “That Amelia wasss the right female for you?”

  Nigel looked around the room until his eyes caught sight of his very pregnant mate. “She pretty much took over my life turning it upside down and inside out.”

  “Soundsss horrible.”

  “At first I thought that way too because I didn’t like the disruption in my well organized life. Now, I can’t imagine my life without her. She is the other half of my soul.”

  Esan didn’t know what to say about that. Nigel was always in control of his emotions but it was clear on his face that he was devoted to Amelia. None of the females he met the previous night had inspired that kind of emotion from him.

  He couldn’t help but glance over to see who Nina was talking with. She was so beautiful and when she smiled, the room seemed to glow brighter. She had turned his life upside down in a way, but she also righted it. Looking at her made him become clearer headed and sure of what he wanted in life.

  Nigel laughed. “You’ve got it bad, my friend. Don’t worry, I won’t say anything — but if she quits because of you, I will kick your ass.” Nigel walked off to speak to the commentators.

  *****

  Nina laughed at what Amelia had told her about Nigel’s failed attempt to do her job. “At least he’s trying to be a good husband. I’ve seen some of my friends’ husbands who still expect their wives to do eveything for them, take care of the house, the kids and work full time.”

  Amelia snorted. “Nigel tells me that I could stay at home with the baby if I wanted to. As if he gets to decide that. How did things go with the Reptan gathering?”

  Nina glanced at Esan who was talking to Nigel. “It went fine. He found a few women he liked.”

  “Really? I was convinced he didn’t like those other women.”

  “Why would you think that?”

  “Because of the way he can’t take his eyes off of you.”

  She felt heat rise to her cheeks. “I would never…he’s just a client. His sister hired me to help find him a mate. I take my job...”

  “You don’t work for him now. The event is over and so is your professional relationship. It leaves things open for you if you want to pursue a personal relationship.”

  That was true. Was she brave enough to let Esan know that she was interested? What would he say? He had been clear from the beginning he didn’t want a human.

  “He…I don’t know. He is set on mating a full Reptan.”

  “What could it hurt to ask him how he feels. He might have changed his mind,” Amelia suggested.

  “Maybe.”

  “Excuse me Nina, may I have this dance?” Jet asked coming from behind her. She turned and gave him a friendly smile.

  “I would love to dance thank you Jet.”

  *****

  Esan searched once more for Nina. She was dancing with Jet. His jealousy roared to the forefront. He walked directly to where they were and tapped Jet on the shoulder. When he spoke, he addressed Nina.

  “May I have thisss dance?”

  Jet looked angry. “I was already dancing with her. Find another female. Oh wait, you have thirty of them running around here somewhere.”

  Esan fought his anger as he kept his eyes on Nina. “It isss up to Nina who she dancesss with.” He held out his hand and, to his relief, she took it. Everyone else, including Jet, disappeared at the feel of her hand in his. She was so delicate and soft. He loved that about her. His body was rock solid and rough, like much of what he had faced in life. He appreciated soft and delicate because, to him, it was rare and precious. When he pulled her close and they swayed together to the music, he knew he would not be able to walk away from her — not this time.

  *****

  Nina’s heart beat faster and faster. God, it felt good to be in Esan’s arms again. He was a surprisingly good dancer. She wondered aloud where he learned to dance.

  “My foster mother demanded that I take lessons. It’s the only thing she ever requested of me, so I did it, but I insisted Sersan learn too. She’s a much better dancer than I am.”

  “I think you’re amazing,” she said without thought. She felt heat rise to her face a second time that night.

  He pulled her closer and she could swear she felt his heart racing too. The heat from his body was almost dizzying to her. Esan smelled good, too, a deep male woodsy scent that had all her girly parts tingling. She was wet between her thighs and hoped she didn’t drip down her leg. That would be embarrassing.

  Esan nuzzled her neck then inhaled. He whispered in her ear. “Let me take you to my suite.”

  She should have said no, walked away, something. What she did was nod and hold onto his arm as he maneuvered out of the banquet room. She didn’t care if anyone saw her. This was something that had been building between them. God help anyone who tried to stop them this time.

  Chapter 17

  Esan held her hand as they walked to the elevator together. It felt right, and nothing had ever felt right to him before. He wanted to take her in his arms and kiss her until her knees went weak, but others joined them in the elevator so he had to settle for just holding her hand. There was no way he going to let her go.

  They got off on the level where most single GCFA fighters lived. Once they reached his suite at the end of the hallway, he couldn’t wait to get inside. He used the fingerprint scan to unlock the door. He motioned for her to enter first.

  “Would you like sssomething drink?”

  “I’m not thirsty.”

  As soon as he closed the door, Nina threw herself in his arms and kissed him. It caught him off guard for a moment, then he wrapped his arms around her waist and kissed her back. He found her scent arousing and that scent increased the more they kissed. His own arousal was quickly growing, making his pants uncomfortable and tight.

  “Nina, I want you.”

  “I want you, too, Esan. I think I’ve wanted you since the first time I saw you.”

  He chuckled as he caressed her back with his hands. “I have been an asss.”

  “You were and still are sexy — even if you do act like an ass from time to time.”

  “Oh, you’re in trouble for that,” Esan teased.

  She laughed, en
joying his playful side. Esan was full of surprises. She nuzzled his neck and inhaled his natural scent. There had to be major pheromones working here because it was like his scent was drugging her, making her forget all her inhibitions.

  “I need you naked,” she whispered without thought.

  He growled with need. “Yesss ... naked.”

  He pulled her tighter against him and kissed her again. He raised a hand to cup the back of her head to hold her where he wanted her. The impassioned kiss made both of them moan. When they pulled apart, they were both breathing hard.

  “If you keep kissing me like that I won’t be able to stand up anymore.”

  “Then let’sss not ssstand up,” he said as he bent to pick her up in his arms.

  “Esan! Put me down — I’m too heavy.”

  “What?”

  “I’m going to hurt your bac.k I’m not as fit as the women you’re probably used to.”

  He stopped and looked at her like she was crazy. “You are perfect — curvy and perfect and there isss no way you would ever hurt my back.” As he finished speaking, he tossed her up in the air and caught her easily.

  “Okay, okay, you’ve proved your point. Now, get me to bed.”

  “Your wish isss my command.”

  He quickly walked to his bedroom and lowered her to her feet. “Take your clothesss off, Nina.”

  She shivered at his demand but did what he said. She reached behind her back and unzipped her dress then pushed it down her body to her feet. She still had her heels on so she kicked those off. All that remained were her red strapless bra and panties. Esan watched her, his eyes skimming over her, not missing one inch. The sight of him watching her upped her arousal causing her nipples to harden.

  “Why am I the only one getting undressed? I won’t remove another item until you start to get naked, too.”

  He smiled as he removed his jacket, dress shirt, and dress pants and kicked his shoes off as well. She admired every inch of skin he exposed, longing to touch and taste it. He didn’t wear underwear, so as soon as his pants fell to the floor his cock sprang up full and ready to go. He was large and wide, which made her ache with desire to feel him deep inside her.