A serving female refilled his drink. He stopped staring to take a deep, satisfied swig.
She peered at the green liquid in his mug. “What’s that?”
“It’s santorilin brew.”
Jess raised her arm, signaling for the serving female. Yep, it’s going to be that kind of night.
Rasha held up his mug and chuckled. “This is not for females. This is a warrior’s drink.”
“I want what he has,” Jess said to the female as she approached.
Instead of filling her cup, the beautiful Sonian glanced from Jess to Rasha.
Jess held out her cup. “Listen, I’ve been drinking homemade brew for years now. I can handle this.”
Rasha leaned back in his chair and laced his hands behind his head. “As she wishes.”
Jess waited patiently for her cup to fill then smiled triumphantly and took a long swig. It didn’t burn as it traveled down her throat but it was potent just the same.
She smacked her lips and set her mug on the table, where it hit a little harder than she had planned. Rasha watched her in amusement.
She peered at him. “Stop.”
“Stop what?”
She turned away. “Watching me.”
He hesitated before answering. “You’ll have to forgive me. You are unique. The females on Sonis do not drink the warriors’ brew.”
Stop overreacting. Heat crept across her cheeks. “I’m not trying to stand out.”
He tilted his chin. “You already do. Your clothes are different and now the brew.” He winked. “But I like it.”
“You’re doing it again.”
“What? Making you uncomfortable?”
She nodded.
“I understand. You’re uncomfortable because I’m a gigantor.”
“I shouldn’t have called you that, sorry. I confess. When I said it before, I did mean it to be offensive.”
“Don’t be, I am gigantic.” He paused before a sexy grin spread across his face. “All of me.”
She rolled her eyes. “You’re hopeless. Consider the apology rescinded.”
His laugh was so loud and infectious she found herself responding with a chuckle.
She relaxed into her chair, feeling the chemicals of the brew working over her muscles with an easy caress.
It could have been the brew talking. Or maybe it was all the adrenaline from the day finally leaving her body. It could have been her new boss. Hell, did it really matter?
This isn’t so bad.
Eva had been right. Rasha wouldn’t hurt her, he was harmless. She could do this.
“Eva came from Earth, Michigan, America. Are you from there as well?”
“Yes to Earth, no to Michigan. I’m from Santa Monica, California.” She took a hard swig from her cup. This time the drink made a slow burn down her throat to her stomach. It didn’t have the same kick as her ex-crewmate Kyle’s but it would do.
As she raised her cup for another swig, Rasha tensed. She followed his gaze and spotted a woman making her way across the room toward them. She had blonde, flowing hair and blue eyes set against flawless tanned skin. Even through the traditional Sonis gown, the woman was curvy…and busty.
Jess resisted the urge to glance down to her B-cups.
The woman smiled at Rasha and reached out to stroke his hand. “Hi, Rasha. I haven’t seen you,” the woman cut her eyes toward Jess, “since leaving your apartment this morning.”
Of course.
Rasha straightened. “I’ve been busy.”
“This must be the scratchy kitty cat,” Jess mumbled under her breath.
The woman glared at Jess. The easygoing demeanor she held for Rasha was replaced with a scowl. “I’m Marcie, Rasha’s girlfriend, soon-to-be mother of his children.”
Rasha choked.
Jess didn’t take the bait. “And I’m sure that makes you very proud.” Jess picked up her cup and took another swig, ignoring how badly her throat was beginning to burn.
Marcie narrowed her eyes and thinned her lips into a smile. “You’re the new personal assistant, right?”
Jess didn’t answer. Her job didn’t include talking to bitches.
“I suspect we’ll be spending a lot of time together,” Marcie added.
“Really, now?”
“You know, because Rasha and I are together.”
All righty then.
Marcie gleefully clapped her hands. “Rasha, does this mean she’ll work for me too?”
“Marcie, that is not—”
Work for her? “I quit.”
Rasha’s mouth fell open as Jess picked up her cup, scraping it across the table, and stood. Without a backward glance, she went to JB’s table.
“C’mon, I’m ready to go back to Laconia,” she said, poking him in the shoulder.
JB squinted up at her, his face contorted. The women still hung on his arms, exchanging glances of confusion. “Go? Where? We just got here.”
“Don’t care. I’ll meet you in the…the…transport bay.” She hiccupped. Which way is the transport bay? She pivoted on her heel and the room swayed.
JB grabbed her arm. “Holy fuck. Are you drunk?”
Jess tried to focus on her cup. Is this empty? Why was she still holding it? Maybe she was drunk. She could be. The internal debate made her head swim. “Does it matter?”
JB shrugged off the females. “Wow, this is a first, getting pissy-ass drunk on your first night of work.”
“I quit.” She shrugged. “Sorry, I tried, but I’m allergic to bitches and hoes. Californ-i-a…” She sang out the last part. She tried to form a “W” like they used to do in rap videos but her fingers tangled together. “Shit, I used to be able to do this,” she muttered.
One of the females inhaled sharply. Jess didn’t care. Everything in her vision began to sway, making her wobble on her feet.
“Not trying to make new friends, eh?”
Jess raised a hand to hit him. “Like I care.” She stumbled forward. She reached for the table and used it to stabilize herself.
Shit. I’m making a scene.
“You aren’t going anywhere but home to sleep it off. Besides, I think I like it here. I might stay for a while.”
Jess shook her head. “Uh-um, need to leave.” The movement caused her head to swim. The little bit of food she had eaten crept up the back of her throat. Just when she suppressed the need to vomit, her feet left the floor, making the room tilt on its axis. “Whoa!”
“I’ll take it from here,” Rasha said.
“Stop. I quit,” Jess said, her words slurring. “Put me down. I’m not working for that bitch.” She tried to squirm out of his arms.
“Calm down. You don’t work for Marcie and you’re not quitting. You’re incapacitated and not allowed to make any decisions right now.” The noise of the dining room died down as Rasha carried her away. “I shouldn’t have let you drink the santorilin brew.”
“I can do what I want,” she wanted to say, but instead the words came out as a jumbled and garbled mess.
“You’re proving to be a handful.”
Handful? I can show him.
With no fight left in her, she passed out.
Chapter Nine
She came to two conclusions the following morning. The first, she would never drink santorilin brew again. Her head felt as if it were going to explode—which JB didn’t take into account as he appeared at her door, not showing any mercy. He forced her to listen to his lecture on giving up too easily and not even trying to make this work. All the while she helplessly threw up in a hole that passed for a toilet. After she emptied her stomach, and with her vision swimming and throat burning, she came to the second conclusion—she would give living on Sonis another chance.
It took hours to pull herself together. Aside from cleaning the stench of stale liquor and throw-up off her, the hot bath did nothing to get rid of her hangover. She grabbed a rumpled jumpsuit from her duffle bag and added unpacking to the list of things she had to do. But
first she needed to make sure she still had a job.
She left her apartment and promptly got herself turned around. Nothing looked familiar from yesterday. Some of the walls held pictures with scenery and animals that she didn’t recognize. Every now and then she passed a statue or a table holding various artwork or vases.
“Shit, I’m lost.”
She knew she had left the residential living area when the regular-sized doors were replaced with double doors and open-area rooms. She could have stopped one of the Sonian females that walked past for directions but none of them seemed open to conversation. As they scurried by they averted their eyes and didn’t acknowledge her presence.
“Fuck it, I don’t need help,” she said as another female breezed past her without so much as a friendly hello.
“May I be of some assistance?”
Jess startled at the voice that came from no particular place. She threw out her arms and turned in a tight circle, searching for the source. “What the?”
“It is I, Ship. I did not intend to frighten you.”
“You didn’t scare me,” she hurried out as she repressed the urge to rub her chest where her heart thumped erratically. Turning around had made her sick again. Her head swam and the nausea returned. She reached out for something, anything that would stop her from swaying. “Not again.”
“Are you still unwell?” he asked.
She pressed her chest and cheek against the wall. The support helped to keep her steady and allowed the nausea to subside. “How did you know I was sick?” Had he been in her apartment…watching her without her knowing?
“I spoke with JB after he visited with you. He told me you drank too much and were ‘paying the price’.”
“Right.” JB wasn’t a gossip but how soon would it take everyone in the palace to know that she’d gotten pissy drunk her first night on Sonis?
She pushed away from the wall and looked around. Nope, she still didn’t know where she was or how to get where she wanted to be.
“Are you lost?”
She chewed on her lip and didn’t answer. She was lost. She could ask for Ship’s help but that would mean he would offer to show her the way. She held nothing against Ship but having the invisible alien trailing her made the nausea return.
She closed her eyes. I do need his help. She opened them. “Yes.”
“Where are you going?”
She ran a hand across her hair. “To Rasha’s office. I was hoping he would be there. I need to talk to him.”
Ship was silent for a moment. Then he said, “He is. If you make a right down the next hall you will find his office on the left.”
Her heart sped up a beat. Time to face the music. “Thank you, Ship.”
“My pleasure.”
Without wasting any more time, she followed Ship’s directions to Rasha’s office. She paused at his open door to knock. He was sitting behind his desk and Mazel sat in a chair opposite him. Both Rasha and Mazel turned as she approached.
“Councilor Horal would like to set an appointment to view the property. He doesn’t feel comfortable purchasing it without a viewing first,” a voice that seemed to come from a device on Rasha’s desk said.
Jess backtracked. “I can come back if this is a bad time.”
Rasha rose and motioned for her to come into the room. “I am sorry but I must leave the conversation. Jess, my new personal assistant, will take my place.”
Wide-eyed, Jess entered the room.
Mazel pressed a button on the console. “Jess, please have a seat.” Mazel indicated Rasha’s now empty chair.
“But I don’t know what we’re doing,” she said in an urgent tone.
“You’re trying to sell property,” Rasha said. He grabbed his jango off the shelf and strapped it to his bare back and headed to the door. “I’ll be on the training field if you need me.”
“Does this mean I still have a job?”
“Of course,” he said.
She exhaled deeply. That went a lot better than she expected.
“Ready?” Mazel asked.
On Jess’ nod, Mazel pressed the button again. “Sorry for the delay. Now are you ready to compare schedules?”
* * * * *
Over the following days she learned a lot from Mazel. The job was pretty easy. The technology wasn’t much different from what she had been accustomed to. Although Taio was off-world with Kane, helping him secure his position within the Galactic Council, Mazel oversaw everything as though Taio were still on Sonis.
Every morning, Jess sat with Mazel while she held a conference call with Taio. Afterward, Mazel spent the rest of the day making sure his wishes were met. While Jess and Mazel were technically never off duty, Rasha had been right, there was plenty of free time.
From what Jess could gather, the idea of the job was being able to anticipate Rasha’s needs and see to them.
Her only problem?
Being in the same vicinity as Rasha.
Eva had promised her none of the males had the ability to give off pheromones that made women go all goo-goo gaga over them.
But why did he have this kind of effect on her? He was an alien. She didn’t fuck with aliens nor did she find any of them attractive.
She couldn’t ignore what was happening. After his return, whenever she was in the same room with Rasha, the competent, organized, “no job’s too big for me, I’m your girl” was no different than a bumbling idiot. Since it wasn’t pheromones making her feel this way, she chalked it up to some other unknown force.
Rasha didn’t necessarily do anything to make her feel uncomfortable. It was quite the opposite. He seemed to go out of his way to make sure she had everything she needed. He even continued his constant complimenting. Normally she would have told him exactly what he could do with his compliments but…
She found herself enjoying his company.
* * * * *
It took a week after officially starting her new job for her to realize she was bored out of her mind. Besides handling Rasha’s schedule there was nothing else to do.
When she heard Rasha enter his office, she jumped up and went to him.
He had his back to her, bent over, searching for something.
“What are you looking for?” she asked.
He glanced up briefly then continued to feel around the back of the shelves. “The strap that holds my jango in its sheath broke.”
“Your what?” she asked, coming closer.
“The strap holds my jango in place. It broke. If I find the missing piece I can have it fixed.”
“You don’t have another sheath?”
He shook his head. “I was going to have one made but I forgot.”
“Don’t worry. I’ll do it for you.”
He stopped searching and straightened. “Many thanks.”
“It’s my job.” Even under artificial lighting his jango seemed to shine. She reached out to touch it.
Rasha raised it out of her grasp. “You should never try to take a warrior’s weapon.”
She pulled her hand back in record speed. “I wasn’t trying to take it. I wanted to feel it.”
He lowered his weapon in front of her.
She flicked her hand out nonchalantly. “Never mind. You’re acting like it’s been kissed by Jesus or something.”
“Who?”
“Forget about it. It’s precious, I get it.”
“There’s no reason to get upset. If you no longer want to touch this weapon, I have another…weapon…you can touch.”
She shifted on her feet, feeling the bumbling idiot trying to rise to the surface. “No thank you.” Yes please.
He ran his hands down his muscular thighs. “Another time then?”
Jess had the fleeting thought of him running his hands on her. Oh jeez, how good would those hands feel on me? “Hmm?”
“I shall leave you alone. I’m sure you have plenty of work to do.”
“Alone? Again?” She immediately wanted to take the words
back.
He cocked his head. “I could stay if you wish. Eva said you would need ‘space’ in the beginning.”
She snorted. The sound wasn’t pretty at all. She might as well have oinked like a pig while she was at it. “I don’t wish you to stay.”
“Really? Are you sure? We could do something about that.”
Was his voice always this deep?
She picked at her hair nervously. “About what?”
He inhaled sharply. “I can smell you.” Then he let his gaze fall to her crotch.
She instinctively dropped her hands to shield herself. She gasped as he got on his knees. “What are you doing?”
He wrapped his arms around her and cradled her ass. Her mouth opened as he nuzzled his nose between her thighs. “I can take care of this…you.”
She dug her nails into his shoulder blades. Should she push him away or keep him where he was?
He made a sound so animalistic, so hot and sexy it made her pussy respond in ways she didn’t want it to.
“That’s it.” He sniffed into her.
His fingers worked in unison to massage her ass, all the while pulling her onto his face. She tried to stand her ground even when she rocked to her toes.
He looked up at her with eyes smoldering with heat. “Can I do it, Jess?”
She blinked, trying to remember his question. “Do…do what?”
“Lick you until you come.”
Oh God. Her knees buckled.
“I want to taste you. I want to bury my face in your pussy. I want to…to…” Growling, he bit her.
Holy shit. Reality came crashing back. She pushed him away and wiggled out of his grasp. “No.” She positioned her left leg behind her and balled her fists. From her experience, aliens had a hard time with the word no.
He rubbed his hand across his face as if trying to regain his composure. She readied for a fight.
He rocked onto his heels and stood. “I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable. As you can see, I lost control.” He grabbed his crotch. His hand held the thickened outline of his cock.
“Is that all you?” She should have been ashamed for asking, but damn.
He nodded.
“It’s so freakin’…” So many words could be used to describe it—gigantic, humongous, enormous. “Big.”
Dangerously Hers (Loving Dangerously #3) Page 7
