The Minister's Manipulation: (An Alpha Alien Romance Novel)

by Liza Probz

  Jeffrey had never had such instant lust for a female before. Sure, he’d had his share of women back on Earth. His easygoing demeanor and fancy job title brought the girls running like sugar attracts ants. He’d always enjoyed the company of women, had had plenty of girlfriends, but he’d always kept them at arm’s length.

  His job didn’t make having a relationship easy. He was off the planet for months at a time, his crew his only family. So he always kept his relationships light, his flirtations playful. And his dalliances always ended when his ship blasted off for a new region of space.

  Her finger began tracing those same patterns of air on his shoulder, bringing his thoughts back to the matter at hand.

  "Do you find me attractive as well?" Her voice was soft, her eyes gentle.

  "Yes," he said, without a moment's hesitation. "You're beyond beautiful."

  "Good," she said, her voice sounding like a purr. "Cheerful, if I may be so bold as to call you that, I think we've got a lot in common. I'd like to get to know you better."

  "You can call me Cheerful if you like, but my given name is Jeffrey. And sure, I'd love to get to know you better. What exactly have you got in mind?"

  "Nothing much," she said, lowering her eyes, a demure expression on her pretty face. "Can we just talk for now? Find out more about one another?"

  Jeffrey took a deep breath. There it was. Her tactic revealed. She would turn his lust for her into a tool in his undoing.

  "Of course. Let's talk." And he would talk, but no matter how much he wanted her, he wouldn't reveal anything that might endanger his crew or his planet.

  With a little hop, his seductive interrogator seated herself on the table, her long legs swinging out before her. "Although I've never been to Earth myself, I've always been intrigued by your species. I've heard that you humans are particularly creative in the, shall we say, amorous arts."

  Jesus, she goes right for the balls. The alien female had to know the effect her words were having on him. Her mention of amorous arts had immediately caused him to think about the two of them intertwined.

  You want to know about the amorous arts? I’d be happy to show you how humans bring each other pleasure. The things he would do to her… with her.

  Her grip tightened on his shoulder. "It's the little differences about other beings that are the most intriguing, don't you think?"

  Jeffrey leaned back, causing her to disengage her hold on him. "I wouldn't know," he said. "You're the first alien being I've met."

  Her eyes narrowed slightly, and he realized that he'd parried her first feint.

  With an admirable quickness, her face softened again. "Ah yes, that's right. We're the first aliens you've met."

  She jumped off the table and moved closer to him. Sweeping out her arms to the side, she gave him a grin. "So what do you think of us?"

  Her nearness was filling him with impure thoughts, and he flirted with the idea of telling her exactly what was on his mind. I think you're the most intriguing creature I've ever seen and I want to bury myself deep inside your lush heat.

  Instead, he kept his wits about him. "Not bad," he said, hoping disinterest was evident in his tone.

  "Oh," she said. "I suppose we're not that exciting to you. Are we too much like you humans to pique your interest?"

  Without warning she gave a slow spin, attempting to highlight her toned body. When facing away from him, she gave him a coy look over her shoulder. "We're not striking enough for you?"

  Jeffrey swallowed hard as his eyes made their way down her supple back to her behind. It was just slightly rounded but with a firmness that made his mouth water.

  Kat'Chinna finished her spin and faced him. She raised her arms, running her hands along her carefully-confined hair before clasping them behind her head. "I suppose we're not as plush as most human women."

  He couldn't stop his eyes from traveling down her luscious body. Her breasts were small but pert, in this position barely confined behind a band of woven fabric that resembled seaweed. Her torso was smooth but clearly concealing tight and well-toned muscles.

  Tight shorts highlighted her well-developed thighs, and he almost lost it for a moment when he imagined those thighs wrapped around his waist, or better yet, resting on his shoulders while he tasted the sweetness trapped between them.

  And her legs, now they were truly remarkable. Lithe and limber, he knew she would be an agile sexual partner. Those legs seemed to go on forever.

  Jeffrey could imagine himself licking her from her toes upward, traveling every inch of those sinuous curves until he reached her sweet center.

  The alien female dropped her arms and moved a couple of paces closer until he could smell her faint aroma. It reminded him of his trips to the Gulf Coast when he was a child. She was such an alluring creature, it was almost impossible for him to hold back his desire when she put herself on display in such a manner.

  It took every ounce of his strength to say nothing. He gave a short shrug of one shoulder and looked down, pulling up one hand and pretending to examine his nails.

  Apparently, his indifference drove her to increase the intensity of her interrogation. She reached out and put a finger under his chin, lifting his face up to meet her gaze. "Even if you don't find the Zantharian female form pleasing, I can't admit to the same. You're very handsome."

  Jeffrey almost couldn't make out her words through the haze of longing he felt when he saw her eyes again up close. That golden ring around the deep dark of her pupils was hypnotic. He didn't know how long he'd be able to hold out against her feminine wiles. Not when he wanted her as badly as he did.

  "It's hard to believe you have no mate," she said, her voice almost cooing. "Human females must throw themselves at you constantly."

  "I do alright," he managed to croak at last. "I've had no complaints."

  "I can believe that," she said, her tongue peeking out to lick her lips. "I wouldn't complain if I had a handsome, strapping mate like you."

  She removed her hand from his chin and straightened again. "Still, I imagine it must be difficult, stuck on a ship out in the depths of space. It's not easy to maintain a relationship under those conditions."

  "It's not," he admitted, not seeing the harm in agreeing.

  "Always on duty, one mission following the next, never knowing when you'll be home again to kiss your sweetheart."

  She clasped her hands behind her back and seemed to stare off into the distance. "It's lonely out in space. Only your crew to keep you company. Relationships between crewmembers are heavily discouraged on Zanthar. I imagine it is similar on Earth?"

  Jeffrey nodded. Although some crew were known to engage in extracurricular activities while aboard their ships, it was generally frowned upon and could lead to a court martial. Duty came first in space. Relationships were a very distant second.

  "It can be so hard, sleeping alone each night. Missing the feelings of another's arms around you. Trying to remember how your lover's skin felt against yours to ward off the coldness of space."

  Her soft sigh was nearly his downfall. She sounded so sincere. Kat'Chinna was a creature of duty like him. Her loneliness was almost palpable.

  "It would be nice to have a friend," she said softly. "Someone beyond the crew. Someone I could trust to keep me warm. To keep my secrets. Don't you agree?"

  "Yes." He hadn't realized he'd said the word until it was already out of his mouth. "Yes, it would."

  "I can be that friend," she said, leaning close again until her lips were mere inches away from his ear. "I want to be that friend. You can trust me, Jeffrey."

  She blew gently on his ear and he couldn't disguise the shiver that went through him. "You can tell me anything."

  Although he saw through her, although he knew that she was only trying to get him to talk, he suddenly found his defenses down. When she was so close, within kissing distance, he couldn't help himself. He wanted that closeness.

  He wanted to trust her.

  "I swear t
o you, I know nothing about any enemies of Zanthar aboard my ship. We left with a crew of eight, and all eight of them I've known for years. I would put my life in the hands of any one of them. There is no way they can be working for an enemy we didn't even know existed."

  "I understand," she said, her voice soothing. Her hand gently brush some of his hair away from his neck. "I trust my crew as well. And my scanners. Please believe me that Hareema DNA is present on your ship."

  "But I don't know how it could have gotten there. We've met no one on our travel to JL-398, except you. There was nothing out of the ordinary until you boarded our ship."

  "The Hareema are sneaky," she whispered, her voice so seductive. "They've infiltrated so many planets we've almost lost count. They could be disguised as anything and they are virtually undetectable."

  Her words cleared the fog in his brain long enough for him to think about the situation logically. "If they are so undetectable, then how did your scans pick up their DNA?"

  "A Hareema shapeshifter can only hold a shape for about twelve hours. Then they are forced to change back into their true form, a solid block of jelly. Although they can almost instantly change back into their disguise, those few seconds are enough to leave a faint DNA residue. And we picked up that residue on your ship."

  Jeffrey turned to face her, instantly regretting the move as he could no longer feel her breath against his ear. "You are absolutely certain you picked up this DNA on our ship?"

  He stared at her hard, wanting to make sure her answer was the truth. She stared back with clear eyes and a sincere expression.

  "Yes. I'm certain. There was, or is, at least one Hareema aboard your ship."

  Jeffrey stood suddenly. She wasn't lying, or she was the best liar he'd ever seen. And if she wasn't lying, that meant the crew remaining on the Earhart were in grave danger.

  "Let me contact my ship. I need to talk to the captain." Captain Brooklyn had to know that the Zantharians could be telling the truth. They needed to be strategizing how to detect the Hareema aboard the Earhart.

  "I can't let you do that," Kat'Chinna said, her expression tightening.

  "Please," he said, grabbing her hand. "If my crew really is in danger, I need to talk to them!"

  She shook her beautiful head. "I'm sorry, I truly am, but I can't let you talk to them yet." Kat'Chinna gave him a persuading look. "Now, if you could tell me more about your mission, about your crew and who helped you plan the logistics of your trip, maybe I could convince Major Ontarii to let you contact your ship."

  Jeffrey stared at her. She was so beautiful, so alluring. Even now, her wide dark eyes begged him to tell her all of his secrets. But it was clear now that she wouldn't take him at his word that he knew nothing about her enemy.

  He could talk until he was blue in the face, but she wouldn't let him out of this room until she was satisfied. And she looked like the kind of female that took everything a man had to be satisfied.

  In that moment, Jeffrey made up his mind. There was no more time to play the game the way she wanted it to be played. His crew was in danger, and he was a prisoner, helpless to protect them.

  It was time to turn the tables on the alien female. Time to regain the upper hand for good. Although he'd let her toy with him, let her flirt and use her wiles, he no longer could afford the luxury of a long flirtation.

  If she wanted to play at seduction, he'd show her how it was done. It was time to see if she enjoyed the benefits his friendship would bring.

  Chapter 5

  Kat'Chinna felt a change in the room as Jeffrey stared at her. She knew her tactics had been having an effect on the man, and he'd even started to open up. But suddenly, things had changed.

  "You're damned cute. But you know that," he said softly. The human began to pace around her. "You showed off your body to me, leaned in close to blow in my ear and drown me in your enthralling scent. But it was all part of your game to make me talk."

  Kat'Chinna didn't dignify his words with a response. So he'd seen through her tactic. It didn't matter. He'd been responding. She could tell by the way his breathing had grown more rapid when she was near. She'd seen it in the way his hard facade had begun to soften.

  But it seemed he was no longer content to play along. Kat'Chinna steeled herself for whatever might come next.

  He came to a stop behind her, and she could feel him there, looming. He leaned in and whispered in her ear. "It's time to stop playing games. The safety of my crew is paramount. If you want any more information, you'll let me contact the Earhart."

  Kat'Chinna stood rigid, refusing to let his closeness affect her. "The safety of my crew is just as important to me. I'm sorry, but I cannot let you do that."

  "Afraid I'm going to let the enemy know you're on to them? If the safety of your crew is so important, then you should want me to contact the ship. We should be working together to help each other."

  "I'm sorry, but we just can't trust you. We need more information before we can plot a means of discovering the shapeshifters."

  "You can't trust me?"

  Did Kat'Chinna detect an undertone of hurt in his voice? The thought gave her a start, causing confusion to coil around her insides. It doesn't matter. Carry out your task. Don't let him distract you.

  He put a hand on her shoulder and whirled her around. Kat'Chinna was temporarily thrown off guard by his strength.

  "What was all that you were saying earlier then? About space being lonely? About needing a friend you can trust?"

  She stared into his hard features, saying nothing. What was there to say?

  "All a ploy to get me to let me guard down, huh? You never had any intention of cooperating with us humans, did you?"

  His eyes narrowed, and he moved to grasp both of her shoulders in his tight grip. "We're just too primitive, too stupid? Is that it? Or are we already corrupted by the enemy?"

  Kat'Chinna stood tall, her expression tightening. She stared over his shoulder, refusing to answer his questions.

  "Ah, the Ice Queen is back I see." His voice was rough, his hands gripping her harder. "Your little act was very convincing, but I see now that it was only that. An act. You're a cold fish, aren't you, Kat?"

  She was startled for a moment by the use of her nickname. Only her mother had ever called her that. To hear it on this human's lips made her chest ache in a way she didn't understand.

  "You're probably too cold to ever display the passion you just hinted at in reality, aren't you?

  Kat'Chinna lifted her chin, trying to ignore his words. They hit too close to home for her liking. She'd always held herself apart, always been distant from others. She'd felt that she'd had to be that way in order to earn the respect of her crew and her commander.

  She knew that some of her crew felt that way about her. She'd heard the gossip when others hadn't known that she was around. 'Cold-hearted Kat'Chinna' they called her. She'd told herself that it didn't hurt, that it didn't matter. When she chose to take a mate, he would discover that she could be as passionate as anyone else.

  At least she hoped she could. She longed for the day when she could let herself be free to just feel.

  But that day wasn't today.

  Suddenly his hands were moving, slowly sliding up from her shoulders to her neck. He held her throat, loosely, in his hands. His fingers caressed her gently.

  "What's the matter, Kat? Afraid I might put some cracks in that icy exterior of yours?"

  "Hardly," she said with as much disdain as she could muster. Unfortunately, her voice was soft, her words unconvincing.

  "That's right, you'd never stoop to enjoying a human as a bedmate, now would you? Such a primitive, backward race that you've so easily outgunned and outmanned?"

  Kat'Chinna closed her eyes. She didn't want to look into the piercing blue of his gaze any longer. His words had too much bite.

  As handsome as she found him, he was absolutely right. She could never act on her attraction to him or she'd be the laughingstock of h
er planet. Sure, it might be acceptable for the Supreme Regent to take a human as a consort, but she wasn't the regent. She was just another cog in the Zantharian military's wheel, and being friendly with an alien who might be conspiring to plot the downfall of her planet would be career suicide.

  "Look at me, Ice Queen," he said, his voice guttural with some emotion she couldn't name.

  Kat'Chinna shook her head, her eyes remaining firmly shut.

  He gave a soft laugh, and she tensed in his grip. "Shhh..." he said, his fingers massaging her shoulders, tempting her to relax. "Let this primitive human show you how good it could be."

  His touch was like fire across her skin. The warmth he created caused her muscles to lose their tension. Her breathing evened out. Slowly, without her control, her eyes began to slip open.

  He was staring at her face, a look of hunger in his expression. Kat'Chinna shivered, wanting to surrender to that hunger.

  She'd never had a man look at her like that, as if he wanted to devour her. For a moment she let herself imagine what that might feel like, to fully give herself over to him. Her knees started to give out as her pulse spiked.

  "That's right, Kat, just relax." He maneuvered them around so that her behind touched the table. His hands moved up from her shoulders, along her neck with a teasing sweep, and then buried themselves in the tightly-wound tendrils on her head.

  "Amazing," he said, his voice soft with astonishment. "I've never felt anything like this."

  She saw the wonder in his eyes and it eroded the last of her strength. She leaned back against the table, needing the support.

  Jeffrey returned his hands to her shoulders and pushed, forcing her to lean back against the tabletop as his breathing got a little off.

  He stared down at her for a moment, and she noticed how flush his skin was. He wanted her, and Kat'Chinna had to admit to herself that she wanted him too.

  "So magnificent," he said, running his hands over her bare skin, down her shoulder, onto her stomach.

  She closed her eyes and let herself feel for the first time in a long time. His touch was like wildfire and her body was ablaze, her pleasure points humming with energy.